Friends-
Heeding the call to duty for an unprecedented, motivated grassroots army made by Sen. Cruz as "the only way" to stop Obamacare, I established DOA-Defund Obamacare Alliance in the first week of August.
I mistakenly believed the mission would end, one way or another, around October 1st. Though the first skirmish has ended, the battle is far from over and the outcome is still up for grabs. Make no mistake about it: Victory or defeat, liberty or tyranny, freedom or slavery, survival or death of the world's last, best hope for mankind is at stake.
I became discouraged and frustrated by active opposition by leaders of my local 912 group based upon personality, not on principles. I was disappointed by unfulfilled promises of help made by long time 'friends' from within the tea party movement. "Very busy" was the common excuse. The absence of motivation to stop Obamacare baffled me. Words without action was not what I had come to expect from a movement born in opposition to an overreaching federal government; a movement that coalesced and grew behind opposition to what became Obamacare. I was told by a paid representative of one of the several, national organizations with "Tea Party" in their name that they could not be affiliated with DOA beacause I and DOA were "not grassroots."
Several times I was ready to chuck it all, but encouragement and the occasional pep talk from a few, hard working patriots kept me going. I thank those true friends of the cause for liberty.
I am no longer discouraged, frustrated, disappointed nor baffled; though lack of motivation to stop the most destructive federal piece of legislation in the history of the nation is telling.
We are regrouping. We are renewing the call for committed, motivated patriots who understand what is at stake to join us. We are marching forward with a new campaign, with a new strategy* and a renewed sense of purpose.
Spread the word! Invite the willing. Rededicate, reenlist, reaffirm.

*Details upcoming

Your servant in liberty,

Rog

THE MAIN EVENT

DOA-SCHEDULE OF EVENTS 

____________________________________ ____________________________________

• AFP DEFENDING THE AMERICAN DREAM SUMMIT

• AUGUST 30-31 
•  Loews Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando®
• RSVP Required at http://site.defendingthedream.org/register/

_______________________

_____________________________

 TAMPA BAY DEFUND OBAMACARE ALLIANCE RALLY

• DATE: TBD in late September

• LOCATION: TBD

https://tampabaydefundobamacarerally.eventbrite.com/

____________________________________

DOA-DEFUND OBAMACARE ALLIANCE

 DOA-Defund Obamacare Alliance 

The DOA - Defund Obamacare Alliance is a non-partisan, nationwide GRASSROOTS alliance united for the purpose of defunding the Unaffordable Care Act.

Any and all reputable organizations, groups, religious entities, associations, businesses, labor unions or individuals are welcome to join us under the umbrella of Grassroots for the sole purpose of defunding Obamacare, regardless of party affiliation, political philosophy, or any other agenda.

DOA will act to influence elected officials and to spread the message via every available medium concerning the damaging consequences of implementing Obamacare on American people of all ages and demographics, on the American economy, on jobs, businesses, unions, and on the lives of America's middle-class and working poor.

The DOA plan of action is to hold a series of rallies across America beginning in August, culminating in a national day of rallies and events in late September, on a date to be determined

Each local chapter of DOA will determine the nature and type of events in their area. Working together, with out caring about who gets credit, WE can do this.

Facebook DOA Defund Obamacare Alliance
FreedomWorks Defund Obamacare Alliance
Tea Party Community DOA-Defund Obamacare Alliance
@defundobamacare
defundobamacarealliance@gmail.com

The Politics of Scare Tactics

From the July 15 Tampa Bay Times-

Editorial:  Ignoring the hungry in the U.S. House

"Hungry Americans should long remember the vote taken last week by the House to endanger the nation's food stamp program."

                                                                                                                                        

"Hungry Americans?"

Who are they? Where are they? Certainly the homeless go hungry. The elderly, the infirmed, the small children of abusive or drug addicted parents often go hungry. But according to the Times Editorial, the hungry Americans are the 47 million recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). 

SNAP recipients are roughly 50/50 children to adults, which means for every single parent with 3 or more children receiving food stamps there are 2 or more adults with no children also receiving benefits. 
The growth of food stamp spending, a program begun in the 1960s, has quadrupled since 2000: Increasing spending from 19.8 billion in 2000 to 37.9 billion in 2007, and since taking office, the Obama Administration has more than doubled spending on food stamps again. Spending rose from $39 billion in 2008 to a projected $85 billion in 2012. As the Times Editorial stated, part of that growth is due to the "Great Recession," but under Obama’s proposed budget, food stamp spending will not return to pre-recession levels when the economy recovers. 
No one denies that means-tested welfare is the fastest growing part of government spending. Hopefully, no one would argue that the 50 year-old  food stamp program is in desperate need of reform, as is the Farm Bill, with it's subsidies, price guarantees and skyrocketing cost of crop insurance, and the costs being added to the American tax payers' already budget busting tab.

The only way these separate programs will ever be subjected to long overdue reforms is to separate them through legislation.

And the use of scare tactics by House Democrats and the Times Editorial staff criticizing a bill for what is not in it is like criticizing the school lunch program for not dealing with spending on the infrastructure. Nothing in the Farm Bill passed by the House does anything to reduce food stamp spending.

Open letter to the press

                                                          TAKING A STAND
                                                            Does it matter?

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." ~
Martin Luther King, Jr.

It has been said by religious leaders, philosophers, barroom sermonizers and deep-thinkers ever since the dawn of deep thinking, that every new day we wake up, we are given a fresh start, a clean slate, a new opportunity to do the right thing, to make better choices, to take a stand for the things that matter.  This is a simple concept, but human nature insures it is not an easy thing to put into practice. Meaningful change requires an admission of being wrong, misguided or duped. Who cares to admit that and more? Practically no one. Too often we have a considerable personal investment in past decisions that even Ray Charles could see were mistakes. For instance, take the elite liberal media and Barack Obama.

Those in the press who chose to put aside their objectivity, who shirked their responsibility incumbent in their 1st Amendment guarantees and protections, who decided to sacrifice their duty to the people as their government watchdog on the alter of Obama; those card-carrying members of the Fourth Estate have a new day, a new opportunity to change their ways and take a stand now, for something that matters. If not now, then when?

The road to recovery is long. The path to righteousness-doing the right thing-is narrow. The journey to redemption is fraught with hazards and temptations. It is not an easy thing to admit to yourself and your fellows that you bought a lemon.

Remember when journalist were trusted by the public?
The Society of Professional Journalists has a Code of Ethics. The Preamble reads:
Members of the Society of Professional Journalists believe that public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy. The duty of the journalist is to further those ends by seeking truth and providing a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues. Conscientious journalists from all media and specialties strive to serve the public with thoroughness and honesty. Professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalist's credibility. Members of the Society share a dedication to ethical behavior and adopt this code to declare the Society's principles and standards of practice.
                                                                        * * *
Taking a stand for the truth is its own reward. Serving the public with thoroughness and honesty makes it easier to sleep well and to wake up each day with the promise of making a difference on things that matter.

Overload and Alligator Sticks

OVERLOAD and ALLIGATOR STICKS

For those unfamiliar with the Cloward and Piven Strategy, simply put, it was and is a strategy proposed, in 1966 by the far-left husband and wife political activists Richard Cloward  and Frances Fox Piven, both professors at the Columbia University School of Social Work, to create a crisis in the welfare system – by exploiting the gap between welfare law and practice – that would ultimately bring about its collapse and replace it with a system of guaranteed annual income. They hoped to accomplish this end by overloading the already overburdened welfare bureaucracy and budget with more than the system could possibly handle or afford.

This overload strategy can be used to collapse any system, i.e., power grids, national defense, a legal system, a person's circulatory system, an engine's cooling system, a web server, the constitutionally established system of checks and balances, or even one's digestive system. You get the idea.

Currently, there is a system being overloaded, steadily and progressively: the system of a representative government as established over 200 years ago in the United States. "We the People", the system comprised of the electorate and citizens of the United States, have been and are being overloaded with daily doses of the latest outrage, overreach, power grab, dereliction, deception, demonization, attention grabbing injury or atrocity, and destruction of life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness perpetrated by a rapidly morphing unrepresentative government. The system of "We the People" is being overloaded, nearing the point of collapse, to be replaced by a different system, one that results in "fundamentally transforming the United States of America."

So, what's an overloaded patriot to do? A wise man once told me, "When you're up to your ass in alligators, pick up a stick and go after the closest alligator."

There are several sticks from which to choose. In alphabetical order: Americans for Prosperity, Freedom Works, Heritage Action, Watchdog Wire, as well as others. I have personally worked with and used all of those mentioned, as well as local and national tea party and 912 groups. These days, on the federal level, the "closest alligator" is Congress. I have found the Heritage Action Sentry Program has an alligator stick that makes it easy to influence specific legislation and specific legislators on the issues vital to our country's future. Please check it out.
http://heritageaction.com/sentinel/

Our Own Backyard

Listening to Roseanne Barr the other day, trying to justify her reaction to the pornographic Hustler Magazine photo-shop of SE Cupp by saying, "That's how it is now, that's how things are...(that) was my point," I didn't believe her. Things can't be as bad as she claims.  She followed with a premise to validate her point:

Somehow in America we've all gotten together and given our consent that you can go as low as possible. And that's both people, both sides' fault - to keep on writing on these polarizing issues that divide the American people....--Roseanne Barr

That's when I knew something was wrong.  I mean, how did I miss that meeting?  No one ever asked me for my consent  So I decided to hold a little online get together to see if "all" Americans had given their "consent that you can go as low as possible."  It shouldn't take a large meeting to invalidate that premise.  I'm pretty sure there are more than a few folks who would withhold their consent and it only takes a few dissenters to break the "we've all gotten together and given our consent" cabal.

But then I wondered; just where would that leave us....us dissenters?"  Is it enough to just withhold our consent, or is there more that needs to be done?  That's when I decided to start a campaign to Clean Up Our Own Backyard.  For purposes of this campaign, Our Own Backyard is defined as the conservative realm, i.e., conservative blogs, websites, Facebook pages, etc., AND their comment sections, plus email groups and lists that profess conservative values, principles, ideas and political causes. 

I'm certain many of you have seen the vile, offensive and distasteful comments, cartoons and personal attacks emanating from Our Own Backyard, as well as the countless forwarded emails that, despite containing little or no facts, spread like wildfire, seemingly impossible to put out.  No doubt, some of this bilge is the product of trolls.  Yet, as residents of Our Own Backyard, they deserve to be called out just as much as our wayward brethren on the left.  Now I have no desire to infringe upon anyone's First Amendment rights.  However, when conservative principles of honesty, integrity, civility, character and personal responsibility are put aside in order to trash political opponents, Our Own Backyard becomes a garbage dump.  

So, here's the game plan.  Whenever we see an offensive or untruthful posting coming from Our Own Backyard, one that fails to uphold the values we, as conservatives profess to admire, say we believe in and argue for, and claim the 'other side' lacks, politely point out to the poster that it is not beneficial to our cause to behave in an identical manner as those we oppose.  

Helping to Clean Up Our Own Backyard could go a long way toward convincing the unconvinced and  persuadable to join our cause.  And besides, it's the Right thing to do.

Help Us Clean Up Our Own Backyard