Updates: The Rally is Postponed and so is DISCLOSE…for now…
The protest in support of the 10th Amendment Foundation’s lawsuit against the Unconstitutional aspects of the Health Care Reform Law has been postponed.
The lead council on the 10th Amendment Foundation’s legal team has been beset with a serious medical condition. There will be another date planned soon. We will work with the Foundation to give us more lead time for preparation this time.
Good News; the Democrats lost a cloture vote by 2 votes today to do a straight 50+1 vote on the DISCLOSE Act. DISCLOSE is patently unconstitutional and is designed specifically to silence groups like the Tea Parties from becoming involved in the political process.
Not only is it a blatant infringement of the 1st Amendment, it carves our exceptions for groups like Unions and the NRA, which is an obvious violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
Both Warner and Webb (predictably) voted for Cloture. In a procedural move, Harry Reid voted against his own bill so he could reintroduce it at a later date once they have bought off the required 2 votes necessary to force a 50 + 1 vote.
Here is a great analysis that correctly equates DISCLOSE to the Alien and Sedition Act, as so blantantly infringing upon Civil Rights, that it must be opposed.
The Roanoke Tea Party will not yield to this law if it is passed and will express our 1st Amendment Rights in complete disregard to the DISCLOSE Act.
We are free men and woman and we will not be cowed by the Tyranny of the Federal Regime. We have rights, conferred by our maker. Reid, Pelosi and Obama have no standing to usurp these rights and we WILL NOT BE MOVED.
JOIN THE RESISTANCE. JOIN THE ROANOKE TEA PARTY.
Dear Congressman Hoyer…
Brent Powell, who has attended several of our Tea Party functions, shared this letter which he has sent to Congressman Steny Hoyer, Majority Leader of the US House Of Representatives. Brent voices many of the concerns that we share about the size and scope of our federal government.
Honorable Steny Hoyer,
The actions of the Speaker of the House are inconsistent with the wishes of the American people. I am asking you as an American to formally request that the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi step down as Speaker. I am requesting this because Americans have given the Congress plenty of signs that the current path toward federal government takeover of health care is not what this country elected her or you to bring to fruition.
The elections of Scott Brown in MA, Governor Bob McDonnell in VA and Governor Chris Christie in NJ should be enough to show her to slow down or stop health care take over. Since this is not enough to show the Democratic Majority that Health care is not a major concern to the people that elected you to the House, here is more. According to Gallup, 55% of Americans say that both Congress and the President should suspend work on the health care bill. Before the election of Senator Scott Brown in December, the Gallup poll said 48% oppose the Health-care bill. Yet in January after the election of Scott Brown and others, Madame Speaker said this about health-care “We will get the job done. I am confident of that. I have always been confident of that.”
I believe Speaker Pelosi is out of touch with the American people. Senator Jim Webb, a Democrat in VA, said “In many ways the campaign in Massachusetts became a referendum not only on health care reform but also on the openness and integrity of our government process.” Also Senator Ben Nelson said, “Both sides need to sit down and work together. They haven’t because they didn’t think they had to. Now they have to.” Even with all of this evidence your elected leader is continuing with a health-care bill.
Again, this is a formal request from an American. Please request that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi step down because of the above evidence.
Thank you for your time. God Bless you and God Bless America!
Sincerely,
Brent J Powell
Roanoke, VA 24018
This is why January 18th is so important
Below are some videos I shot at the Tea Party protest at Senator Webb’s office. I think they speak for themselves. DC corruptocrats are not listening. Our state may listen though. If we can get HB 10 passed into law, we will short circuit the progressive agenda with our most powerful weapon. The US Constitution.
Follow this link if you wold like information on the January 18th event
I will be on Freedom and Prosperity radio at 8 PM Sunday evening on 960 WFIR. Here is there site. The host, Brian Gottstein will play several clips from the Webb visit and talk about January 18th with me.
With no further ado, here are the clips. Thanks for all of you support.
Chip Tarbutton
Thank You Roanoke!
We had about 200 people show up for the protest. Thanks to all you intrepid souls that braved the elements to stand up fo the Constitution.
There was a lot of media coverage. Channel 7 and 10 were both there, but Channel 7 actually filmed the meeting with Senator Webb’s assistant. It was a lively exchange that should make for interesting TV.
Here the News 7 report. Here’s one video. More to come.
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January 6th Protest. January 18th Richmond Rally.
We will be holding a protest rally on Wednesday, January 6 at Senator Jim Webb’s office in SW Roanoke County. The reason for the protest is his vote in support of the Health Care bill in the Senate last week. We would like to show displeasure with Senator Warner as well, but there is not sufficient parking near his downtown Roanoke office to support a rally of this sort.
Please join us on the 6th from noon to 2:00 p.m. with signs and banners – and a warm beverage! Tea Party groups from Franklin County, Staunton, Rockbridge and Lynchburg will be traveling to Roanoke for this rally, so we should have a strong showing of Virginia Patriots.
Senator Webb’s office is located near the corner of Electric Road (Rt. 419) and Chaparral Drive. If the office is open, anyone who would like to speak with his staff can enter the office and do so, but our goal is not to disrupt their operation or block access to the building.
We want to demonstrate our opposition to the health care bills, not just to the Senator and his staff, but to our fellow citizens as well. To that end, we will congregate along the intersection of Route 419 and Chaparral Drive. This is a busy time on a busy road, and we will be encouraging the local media to take note of our protest.
We had a great reception on 419 for our Halloween health care protest and we expect the same next Wednesday as well. Public support for the health care bills continues to drop and we don’t want our Senators to forget it!
| Senator Webb’s office3140 Chaparral Drive
Building C, Suite 101 Roanoke, VA 24018 |
 |
Keep in mind that The Roanoke Tea Party is not opposed to health care reform. In fact, we are in favor of many reforms in this area, but we do not support the sort of top down, government run system that has been approved by the House and Senate.
What we would like to see is reform along these lines:
- Allow insurance companies to sell across state lines
- Allow the sale of ‘no frills’ catastrophic coverage policies
- Expand the use of Health Savings Accounts
- Tort reform to limit malpractice liability abuse
- Allow taxpayers to deduct individual premium costs without itemized deductions
- Allow individuals, small business and states to form voluntary pools to negotaite insurance rates
- Use refundable and advanceable tax credits to allow low income workers to purchase health insurance
Don’t forget the 10th Amendment Rally in Richmond January 18! The Roanoke Tea Party is organizing a bus trip for our members (and any interested Roanoke Valley residents) to attend this important event at the State Capitol.
Citizens from all over the state will converge on Richmond to lobby their delegates, and congregate in a giant rally at the Capitol Bell Tower. Keynote addresses will be delivered by our new Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, and Virginia Delegates Bill Carrico and Bob Marshall.
This day is a holiday for many people, but the General Assembly will be in session. Won’t you spend this day off with fellow Roanoke-area Patriots and stand up for our 10th Amendment Rights? Numerous states are moving to stand up to Federal government on there take over of the Health Care system. More info on that here.
Please accept our best wishes for the New Year – may it be filled with joy, happiness, prosperity and Liberty!
January 6th Protest at Senator Webb’s Office.
We are working to better coordinate our actions with other tea party groups in the state. To that end…
On January 6th, Tea Party Groups from as far away as Staunton, Rockbridge and Lynchburg have been working with us to put together one last protest to ensure that Senator Webb and Warner know what we think about their vote for the Health Care “reform” bill.
January 6th from noon – 2PM, we will gather outside of Senator Webb’s office at
3140 Chaparral Drive
Building C, Suite 101
Roanoke, VA 24018
This is a large office park and there is a lot of parking around the area. We want to focus our resources in one area, plus Warner’s office has lousy parking and is not in a high traffic area like Webb’s office. Warner/Webb and the media should get the message that we will not stand for this unconstitutional legislative monstrosity.
If the office is open (which is doubtful since Webb’s offices consistently close their doors to avoid having to defend Webb’s indefensible support of the health care reform bill) we will enter and demand to know how they can support a bill that will make the current problems with health care worse, not better. For an outstanding analysis of the Senate bill, read this…
This doesn’t even address the core issue that the Federal Government requiring citizens to carry health care insurance is patently unconstitutional.
In between trying to chat with Webb’s people, we will march. Bring signs as this is a highly visible area. Here are some sign ideas. We will be sending out a press release so we hope to garner some press coverage. We will be using this protest to get the word out about our January 18th Rally in Richmond.
Webb admits the bill isn’t “perfect.” But feels that these “improvements” made the bill necessary. Really?!?Voting for a bill this broken just to say you did something is why our country is in the mess it is in.
See you there…any questions? Please email me at chip@roanoketeaparty.com
Directions to Webb’s office for those outside of Roanoke
Get on I-581 (the main exit for Roanoke off of I-81)
Continue for 9.7 miles to VA-419 N/US-220 BUS/Franklin Rd
Take immediate right on to Electric Rd/VA-419 N
Continue .8 miles and turn left on Starkey Rd
Take the 1st right onto Penn Forest Blvd. Destination will be on the right
Raise a Stink
Webb and Warner sold out Virginia by voting for cloture in the dead of the night and hiding behind rhetoric to excuse their cowardly actions. On top of getting to Richmond on January 18 to fight this…we need to continue to make these Senators understand the serious mistake they are makng, both for the nation and their political futures.
I continue to get busy signals when I call both Senators. Job well done. Keep it up.
The Tea Party Patriots site is suggesting that you add your local media outlets to the calling list.
We think that is a great plan. You simply can’t get through on the phones (even prior to the snowstorm) and Webb’s local office has been closed up for several days.
Sounds to me like thats a big story since our elected officials seem reluctant to here from the people they are supposedly representing.
Here are the contact numbers for the local TV and papers.
WSLS10: 540-981-9126 (Direct number to the news room)
WDBJ7: (540) 344-7000 (Ask for the news director)
I got through to both news directors and they are “thinking” about some coverage, despite other big local stories. Perhaps a flurry of calls to them may convince them to cover this story more fully.
I didn’t bother calling the Roanoke Times, they are irrelevant anyway…but if you are so inclined knock yourself out. 
Senator Webb’s Roanoke Office closed at 4:30 PM? Updates on a variety of issues.
I swung by Jim’s office on Chapparal Road and lo and behold..nobody was home. I called the number for the office, which directed my calls to the Washington number (without providing the number…bad customer service Senator). I called and left a message on his DC number after getting a couple of busy signals. I certainly hope this is a sign that the local staffers are running to the hills based on the volume of calls from folks on the health care reform bill. I do appreciate Senator Webb showing enough intellectual honesty to oppose the current bill and we continue to urge him to do so. Until a decision is made…we need to keep the pressure on.
A couple of exciting pieces of information about the Tea Party. In case you didn’t know it, up until recently the Tea Party was little more than a collection of concerned citizens meeting in basements and restaraunts. While we aren’t much more than that, we are an Incorporated entity now. We did this to protect our brand. According to recent polls, Tea Party’s are more trusted then either political party. (Based on the performance of both parties recently, one could hardly be less trustworthy)
The tea party name has, for better or worse, value. There are examples of the GOP trying to create their own “tea parties.” While there are some in the GOP that share our values, there are some that do not. And our organization will not be beholden to any party. So we felt it necessary to protect the brand. We also need to be able to handle money effectively. Before, transactions were done on a person to person basis which is bad for everyone involved. Now we can write checks to the Roanoke Tea Party. This is goodness.
We will be moving away from protests in 2010 (although we will still need to do some of that) and towards
- Endorsing and supporting local candidates
- Pushing for or opposing legislation
- Monitoring and reporting on adherence to our core principles
I was called naiive today, but we should expect our elected officials to support the Constitution, fiscal responsibility and individual liberty without close scrutiny. Since that doesn’t seem to work right now, our organization will be committed to holding politicians feet to the fire all year round.
We will hold our first formal members meeting on Feb 4th 6:30-8:45 PM at the main Roanoke Library located at 3131 Electric Road SW, Roanoke VA 24018. We will be discussing our by-laws, organization and other internal issues as well as organizing for future events. If we want to keep this movement together for the long haul, we need to ensure we have the structure to make that happen. We are exploring several ideas in this regard and will cover them in detail on Feb 4.
We will have a shop open soon on the site for T-Shirts and other items. This stuff costs money. So far we have depended on the kindness of our members and the generosity of our leaders to pay our way. This won’t work long term, as we need to be able to advertise, endorse and contribute to candidates who support our values. We will be discussing thorny money issues on Feb 4th, because we need to be transparent (really transparent unlike the faux transparency of our President) if you are going to trust us with your hard earned money. The more money we have to work with, the more impact we can have on policy.
We are focusing our main protest efforts right now on the January 18th rally in Richmond. We will be putting much more out on this soon. We will be having bus trips to Richmond for a nominal cost (around $25 a head). We can make a big difference in Richmond with a friendlier legislative enviornment. We will be joined by every major tea party group in Va. on that date so it should be quite a show.
Keep the faith and keep checking the site for updates.
Action Alert! Contact your Senators NOW!!!!
If you’ve been following the news today, the health care bill in the Senate has reached a critical mass as Harry Reid’s ridiculous health care bill is collapsing under it’s own weight.
Please keep calling your Senator, come by your Senator’s office, and make it clear that you want them to vote no! Here’s the information. The coalition of sleeze that Reid has cobbled together is coming undone. Make sure Webb and Warner know we the people demand a no vote on this Health Care “reform” monstrosity. Here is their information….
Sen. Jim Webb, Virginia
DC Office Phone Number: 202-224-4024, DC Fax Number: 202-228-6363
3140 Chaparral Drive
Building C, Suite 101
Roanoke, VA 24018
Phone: 540-772-4236
Fax: 540-772-6870
DC Office Phone Number: 202-224-2023, DC Fax Number: 202-224-6295
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-2023
Fax: 202-224-6295
Anatomy of the Obamacare Lie.
Recently a prominent, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist from the New York Times wrote a blog on the NYT website describing how an Oregonian man was denied health care and used it as an example of why Obamacare needs to pass. He even began to raise money for the “victim” from his readers.
Guess what? It was all a lie. Read this long detailed article on how this pathetic piece of “journalism” came unravelled. It’s a microcosm of how facts are twisted or completely ignored if it doesn’t fit what the “journalist” want to say….
Bottom line: Supporters of the health care reform bill keep trotting out the same “tricks” to persuade people the current reform bills are necessary.
Keep calling Warner and Webb. This letter from a Tea Party member gives you great speaking points.
Climategate, Health Care Reform and the ridiculous Afghan policy speech from last night show how vapid the liberal powers that be are. We consistently frustrate libs because us silly right wingers take the time to actually read the bills and ask questions. And like most things from the Feds, none of these policies can’t stand up to close scrutiny.
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