Press release from Viguerie Marketing Institute -

The Founding Mothers and Fathers of the Tea Party Movement to be Honored in Live Webcast by Viguerie Marketing Institute on 1 Year Anniversary Tomorrow

MANASSAS, Va., Feb. 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Viguerie Marketing Institute will honor the 95 founding mothers and fathers of the Tea Party Movement tomorrow on the 1 year anniversary of the first 52 tea party protests held across the country on February 27, 2009. The names of these 95 founding mothers and fathers will be announced at the end of a free live Webcast that will be held tomorrow, Saturday, February 27, 2010, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. eastern. The Webcast will include highlights of the recent training conference of Leadership Tea Party, held in Dallas, Texas on January 29-31, which consisted of 10 sessions, and included the keynote address by Richard A. Viguerie, Chairman of ConservativeHQ.com.

Among the points Viguerie made were:

• The Tea Party movement should avoid the temptation of forming a third party. It would be a disaster for the cause of freedom and limited government.
• Tea Party leaders should work to be a third force in politics in order to push Republican and Democratic politicians to the right.
• For now, all Tea Party activities should be focused on the 2010 primaries challenging every establishment Republican and Democrat.

Other topics in the Webcast conference include community organizing, dealing with the media, defeating powerful political machines, and protecting members and groups from legal pitfalls.

Nationally renowned presenters include American Liberty Alliance founder Eric Odom; Zen Conservatism author and co-founder of the St. Louis Tea Party Bill Hennessy; attorney Mark Fitzgibbons; Dallas Tea Party leader Lorie Medina; and St. Louis-based radio talk show host Dana Loesch.

The Webcast will be hosted live by Nationwide Tea Party Coalition co-founder Michael Patrick Leahy, author of Rules for Conservative Radicals. Leahy will be joined by other presenters to respond on camera during the Webcast to viewers’ emailed questions. In addition, the Webcast will provide a live report from the Dallas Tea Party in Dallas, Texas, to discover if MSNBC broadcaster Keith Olbermann shows up to accept the Dallas Tea Party’s recent YouTube invitation to attend their tea party celebration of the one year anniversary of the Tea Party Movement.

The live webcast is free. A complete schedule of the February 27 Webcast and registration information is online at www.vmionline.com. Additional registration for on-demand viewing of all ten training sessions is available for $19.95.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Richard A. Viguerie pioneered political direct mail and has been called “one of the creators of the modern conservative movement” (The Nation magazine) and one of the “conservatives of the century” (The Washington Times). He is the author of Conservatives Betrayed: How George W. Bush and Other Big Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause.

Asheville Tea Party, an organization which was born on a cold and rainy February 27th 2009 in Asheville’s Pritchard Park, is among the listed 95 “founding mothers and fathers.”

Feb. 4

On the evening if the first day, we gathered in the main hall for mingling and hors d’oevres. There, we ran into good people from Cherokee County, Cleveland County, Henderson County, and Polk County. Meet Debbie Arceneaux of Polk County 9.12 Project:

The speech would likely have been objectionable to Progressives, Socialists, supporters of amnesty for illegal immigrants, and opponents of the preservation of American culture, but it was not racist. If I could find the entire speech anywhere online, I would post it here. Apparently, it doesn’t serve the media’s purpose to publish the entire speech in context. Here is part of the speech.

Feb.5

On the second day, after breakfast and a short speech by Memphis Tea Party organizer Mark Skoda, we broke out into sessions. We attended the Leadership Institute’s training session on using new media. This class was led by one of the media directors of the wildly successful Scott Brown campaign. In it, we learned more about the effective use of Facebook, YouTube, Twitter Google AdWords, Google Docs, Google Forms, Google News Alerts, online petitions and polls, Ning, Drop.io, and text messaging services such as Tatango. This class was a great value and many of the ideas put forward are things that Asheville Tea PAC will be able to use effectively in the upcoming Congressional campaign.

We then went to lunch where we heard speeches by Judge Roy Moore, candidate for Alabama Governor, and Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch. Tom Fitton’s speech was extremely informative. Asheville Tea Party members should definitely avail themselves of the information provided by Judicial Watch at their website.

After lunch, David DeGerolamo and I conducted a breakout session on “How To Unite State Tea Party Groups.” The session was well attended and received. After we finished our presentation (without PowerPoints because the IT guy never showed up) we took questions. When the hour allotted for our session was up, the participants agreed that they wanted more of this topic and material. We inquired of Judson Phillips, the convention organizer, if it would be possible to hold another session during the free period the next day and he provided us a room and a three hour time period.

At dinner, we heard from Congressional Candidate and media personality Angela McGlowan and WND founder Joseph Farah. McGlowan’s speech was inspiring. Farah’s speech was almost entirely devoted to challenging the authenticity of the President’s birth certificate. This was a disappointment to me and, I believe, a negative contribution to the Tea Party Convention.

Fortunately, what followed eclipsed Farah’s speech completely. We had the privilege of screening an as-yet-unreleased movie, Generation Zero. This movie which will be released in select theaters in the coming weeks, is a jaw dropping assessment of our current economic straits, presented in a way that holds you visually captive. I had the opportunity to speak to Stephen K. Bannon, the man behind the movie, at the close of the convention and found him to be sincere and passionate about his work. He wants this movie to not only be a tool for education and motivation, but a source of pride for the Tea Party movement which he feels is heir to the Ronald Reagan legacy. As soon as the film is available on DVD, Asheville Tea Party will host a public viewing.

Feb.6

On the morning of the third day, we heard from Amy Kremer, early leader in the Tea Party movement and one of the organizers of Tea Party Express. We also were treated to a speech from Andrew Breitbart, founder of BigHollywood.com, BigJournalism.com, BigGovernment.com, and Breitbart.tv. Andrew’s speech was amazing and, as he brought the crowd to its feet over and over again, his words brought the mainstream media to its knees. We are so pleased and proud that Andrew Breitbart counts himself among us. I had a chance to speak to him and, hopefully, have persuaded him that Asheville should be one of his next stops in his busy travel schedule.

After Breitbart’s total evisceration of the the mainstream media, we had a Panel Discussion. Our own David DeGerolamo, founder of NCFreedom, was a member of the three person panel answering questions from the general audience. The other two panelists were Amy Kremer of Tea Party Express and Mark Skoda of Memphis Tea Party. Videos of the panel discussion are available here and here.

After the panel discussion and lunch, we returned to the meeting rooms for our second session of “How To Unite State Tea Party Groups.” We presented the material with PowerPoint slides this time and took a few questions. Then, we broke up into four geographical regions to discuss amongst ourselves what works, what doesn’t, and what’s next. After a half hour, we reconvened and Judson Phillips joined us. At this session, we discussed how to use Tea Party Nation’s website as a hub of communication for the nation’s Tea Parties and where to begin with networking. In the coming weeks, we will be developing this network further with Tea Party Nation and devising a Toolkit for Tea Party organizers to use in their efforts to organize their states for improved communication. Also at this session, we had a chance to utilize a new media tool we learned about in the Leadership Institute session.

The day was capped off by dinner, a performance by singer/songwritier/patriot Jon David, and a rousing speech by former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Governor Palin’s much anticipated speech carried no hint of an attempt to coopt the Tea Party movement for personal or political gain. Much to the contrary, Governor Palin extolled the benefit of the Tea Party not having a national leader or spokesperson in that we are a force for change in both parties and across ideological boundaries. You can see her entire speech here.

Much to my great pleasure, the convention ended without a single mention of the formation of a Tea Party political party. It was entirely devoted to opening up lines of communication among patriot groups, encouraging the movement, and moving forward using strategies that work. There was no heavy handed partisanship on display and no divisiveness or conflict among members. If my schedule permits, I will gladly accept the invitation I received from Judson Phillips to present another session on “Uniting a State” with David DeGerolamo at the next Tea Party Convention in July.

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No Free Rides

As a conservative appreciative of our country’s traditional values, it is a personal belief that prosperity and safety are not without cost. The Bible, reinforced by nature and the test of experience, assures us that nothing is free and the pretense of such is anything but loving.

God may have made men equal, but such is certainly not the case with cultures. Whatever romantic attributes previously granted to Haitian culture were grievously assaulted by recent events. The broken rock fault under Haiti has revealed a long standing cultural fault on top of Haiti.

In spite of the lessons of history and this current event so close to our shores, most Americans believe we retain an inevitable destiny of power and security. To do anything else would require we step around the soft allure of comfort and face the much more demanding mistress of accountability.

Confronting the Anointed

In my home town a couple of dozen Tea Party members recently stepped away from their comfort zones to confront elected officials returning from a junket. The state legislator and county commission chair flew in from Hawaii, an island paradise coincidently located at about the same latitude as the paradise lost – Haiti.

The benefits of a tax payer funded vacation evidently included a respective four thousand dollar dose of Maui’s version of ‘chutzpa’ – Hebrew for ‘audacious entitlement’. It seems that both officials were stricken with the crucial importance of their roles on the Airport Authority and the daunting skill sets necessary to that function. Hawaii was clearly the only place to properly acquire those proficiencies.

Those with a resistance to chicken manure marketed as chicken salad have tilted their heads at the assertion that board membership necessitates exotic trips to tropical vistas. Those acquainted with books, the Internet, and other affordable and accessible learning tools were equally skeptical of the attitude of personal entitlement cheerfully defended as an act of accountability. It is apparent that awareness of a real national unemployment rate approaching 20% and enough debt to mortgage the future of our children’s children is not one of the skill sets of an information deprived airport authority.

Insult was added to injury when it was learned that Mr. Commissioner wanted to be reimbursed for using his frequent flyer miles for the trip. Audacity was added to absurdity when it was discovered that Mrs. Legislator graciously shared her room when her family showed up in Hawaii to enhance her learning experience.

Read more »

By now, you have likely heard the scuttlebutt going around about the National Tea Party Convention in Nashville, TN. Specifically, the for-profit model of organizer Judson Phillips has raised red-flags. Making matters worse for the organizers, Phillips has a history of financial problems.

Phillips has announced that the $549-a-head convention featuring Sarah Palin is sold out. But Tea Party critics and allies alike have been asking questions about what Phillips plans to do with the money. Concrete answers have been in short supply, and in the end it looked like too big a risk for any public office holder.

Rep. Michele Bachmann has become the latest high-profile conservative to bag the rapidly unraveling Tea Party Convention in Nashville next week.

The Minnesota Republican, who has become something of a heroine of the Tea Party movement, decided Thursday morning that she is canceling her appearance at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel next Friday, where she was scheduled to be a breakfast speaker.

Bachmann’s office cited the same concerns that other Tea Party activists have voiced about the first-of-its-kind national gathering: “We’re out,” said Bachmann spokesman Dave Dziok. “It comes down to conflicting advice as to how these profits are going to be used after the fact. We’d rather err on the side of caution than do it and find out it’s improper… with somebody saying ‘they’re using the money from an event you were at to support this and this,’ which comes as a direct conflict with what you’re doing as a member of Congress.”

As someone who paid out of my family’s personal budget to attend this event, I have to say that I am deeply disappointed in Rep. Bachmann’s decision.

Notice what is glossed over in the news article: this event is sold out. No one attending was forced or coerced to purchase a ticket. Obviously, attendess bought tickets because they felt the value would, at the very least, equal the cost. The waiting list has over 300 people on it. A great many people want what is being offered at $549 a head. Phillips and Tea Party Nation are offering a conference at which Tea Party leaders from across the country can network and communicate. We will be able to attend break out session classes. We will hear former Governor Sarah Palin speak. Until yesterday, we were also going to hear Rep. Michele Bachmann speak, something which was to be the highlight of my trip.

Does it matter what Phillips and Tea Party Nation will do with the money? Should we care that they will make a profit? Ought we be outraged that they might make a very large profit? No, no, and no.

Are we liberty loving capitalists or aren’t we? Tea Party Nation is a for-profit corporation. They have organized what, for all appearances, will be a well attended, well executed conference. Does it strike anyone else as a little odd that Rep Michele Bachmann, a woman known for her embrace of the free market and individual liberty, would back out of this event due to concerns that the ticket price is too high?

Unlike Palin, who is reportedly getting a $100,000 speaking fee, Dziok said Bachmann was not getting any money for her speech.

This event has been much maligned, not unlike every other step of this movement. Bachmann has dealt us a blow, but as usual, we will soldier on. Ultimately, I believe the damage will be to her credibility, not ours.

Read more »

This year, Asheville Tea Party’s big trip to Washington DC will be September 10-12, 2010.

If you were unable to attend the 9.12 March on Washington last year, commit to attending this march.

If you did attend the 9.12 March on Washington last year, commit to attending this march with a couple of friends or family members that didn’t go last year.
Read more »

For Immediate Release

Asheville Tea Party Condemns Use Of Public Funds For Asheville Regional Airport Board Members’ Junket To Hawaii And Calls For Public Apology

Three members of Asheville Regional Airport’s governing board, North Carolina General Assemblywoman Susan Fisher, Buncombe County Commission Chairman David Gantt, and Asheville attorney and airport board Chairman Dave Hillier, have flown to a Hawaii resort at a cost of just more than $17,000 in taxpayer money. The Aviation Issues Conference is being held Sunday through midday Thursday at the Westin Maui Resort & Spa, Ka’anapali.

Two of the participants, both elected officials, justify the expense by pointing to what they will gain personally from the conference. According to the Asheville Citizen-Times, County Commission Chairman Gantt believes the thousands of dollars in public money is well spent because the connections he makes may “come in handy later.” State Rep. Susan Fisher likes these types of conferences because they improve her effectiveness as a board member. Neither commented on what the actual benefit would be to area taxpayers. Fisher did allow, “It makes me feel for people who have to deal with 17-degree weather.”

“In the current economy, it is unconscionable that the airport board would send one person, much less four persons, to Hawaii for a conference of questionable value on the public dime. Private businesses do not have the luxury of not participating in the recession. The last organizations that should be ignoring the effects of the down economy are those which exist at the expense of the taxpayer and contribute nothing to the economy. If area citizens needed any proof that our local elected officials are out of touch with reality, this episode certainly fits the bill.” said Erika Franzi, Asheville Tea Party director.

On behalf of local business owners who have canceled regular trips, eliminated all but non-essential expenses, and cut their payroll; on behalf of private citizens who have slashed their family budgets, skipped annual vacations, and gone without; on behalf of all area residents who are offended by this flagrant misuse of public funds and obscene violation of the public trust: the Asheville Tea Party calls upon all Asheville Regional Airport board members who participated in this taxpayer funded trip to Hawaii to publicly apologize for their incredibly poor judgment.

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While most of our attention has been focused on health care legislation and the follies on the floor of the U.S. Senate, Representative Heath Shuler (D-NC11) has been making news with some very interesting statements and actions.

In addition to continuing to “deal with” ethical issues related to Blackberry Cove and the TVA, Congressman Shuler has now weighed in with a controversial vote on raising the U.S. Debt Limit.

Some interesting new information about our Washington trip and the one of us who did get in to see Heath Shuler:

Fifteen Minutes with Heath

This past Thursday I joined 25,000 or so of my fellow liberty loving citizens in Washington DC, at a rally to urge Congress to oppose the effort by some in the US government to destroy the greatest health care system in the world. It was a whirlwind –31 hours round trip, over 900 miles and 14 hours in the car.

The trip included some scheduled time to meet with elected officials from North Carolina, and/or their representatives. The meetings were intended for the entire Asheville group, but because the schedule for the day was so fluid, none of us knew whether the meetings would actually occur as planned.

The meeting with Heath Shuler was scheduled for 1 PM, which was during the middle of the rally. I hated to leave the rally in progress. But I was carrying a letter I had written to Mr. Shuler two weeks ago, for which I had received no response. The lack of response was not unexpected, all things considered. The letter outlined why I believe he and others should vote against the current health care legislation.

At 10 minutes to one I pulled away from the rally. A police officer pointed me toward the Cannon Building, where Shuler’s office is located. I walked up the hill, went through the metal detectors, walked up to the 4th floor, found office # 422, and bam, I was in the Congressman’s office. Pretty cool I thought.

There was a lot of activity in the office. His staff was friendly and engaging. It was almost 1:15, and at first I was told Shuler was not there. I handed one of the staffers the letter. Then another staffer who appeared to have some seniority told me he was there, but had a meeting at 1:30 he could not break. Because the rest of the Asheville group was stationed almost at the very front of the stage at the rally, I doubted they would be able to get there by 1:30. She asked if I wanted to go ahead and see him by myself, and I said sure. What happened next was both bizarre, informative, and very disappointing.

Have you ever been in a conversation in which you thought you had been insulted, but you weren’t sure, because the person had no reason to insult you? Have you ever tried to have a conversation with a person who was constantly being defensive, so much so the person ends up coming across as immature? Have you ever had someone attempt to beat you with a morality stick, without a reason or the credentials to do so? Those three questions characterize my 15 minutes with Heath Shuler.

Nice tie, Congressman Shuler.

Toward the end of our time together Shuler said something, that made everything else he had done and said make sense. We were sitting around the coffee table and he leaned forward and said, “You’re a registered Republican aren’t you?” I responded, ” Yes.” ( I wish I had responded, “Does it matter?”) After my response he said, “I knew that, the red tie you are wearing gave you away.” I was honestly unaware, that apparently in Washington and some other places, a red tie is a flag for a Republican. I had worn a suit out of respect for his office, a blue one, and red seemed logical. Who knew?

I was in shock. I am a tax payer. I had driven over 400 miles to be there. My intent in being there was to express my concern over the size, scope, and direction of the federal government. And to him, a man living off the backs of tax payers, I was nothing more than a red tie. But then it all made sense. He had labeled me less than one second after seeing me. That helped explain why my first “was that an insult?” occurred within 60 seconds.

At one point during the conversation I told him he had done nothing but label me since I had gotten there. He paused, looked down, said he was sorry, and then continued!

At another point I asked him how many people in his district did he think had inadequate health care. He responded 25%. I asked “So 25% of the population is going to dictate to 75% of the population?” He responded with a smile of his face, “That’s America.” He had no response when I said, “That ain’t right.” That, by the way, is NOT America. That IS Washington. By that same math, I should have been talking to Carl Mumpower in that Congressional office, Shuler’s challenger in the last election. Again, something else I wish I had said.

I came away convinced he views the federal government as the big charity in the sky. He said many times, “we have to help those people”. I never was quite sure who “those” people are. Apparently a $1.4 trillion deficit in the most recent fiscal year is just a bother. He had no response when I asked who helped “those” people before the federal government got so big.

The meeting was bizarre in part because I was never offered the most basic of hospitalities. There was never a “welcome to Washington,” nor was there an offer of a glass of water. It was informative because I now recognize Shuler as a perfect Washington Democrat–a candidate hand picked for his celebrity rather than intellect or knowledge of government, with a basic disdain of the Constitution, with a bent to satisfy his charitable desires with someone else’s money. It was disappointing because I left the meeting with less respect for the Congressman from my district than I had when I arrived.

As a post script, I had a chance, fortuitous phone conversation on the way home, which made me feel better about about the meeting. The conversation was with a self described liberal Democrat from Asheville. I told him of my experience. He laughed and said he had had the same type experience with Shuler and his staff. I was shocked. He’s on their side, actively involved. He said because he is young and from Asheville, Shuler and his staff have labeled him as a flaming Progressive, and distance themselves from him. He too used the word label, to describe how they have interacted with him.

These are not the words or actions of a man who voted against socialized medicine on principle. By standing for nothing, Rep. Shuler has put himself in an untenable position. He cannot be counted on, his voting record is completely inconsistent, and the only interest he faithfully represents is the Congressional Democratic Caucus.

Rep. Shuler did vote “nay” on Pelosi’s Health Care Bill, but do not make the mistake of believing he represented us. If you weren’t certain, the above encounter should put to rest any doubts you have about what Rep. Shuler thinks about health care and about you.

The truth is, he might just as well have voted “yea.” At least, that would have been the honest thing to do.