The World is Run by Those Who Show Up

A Message to Unaffiliated Voters

 

Are you a stay-at-home-Republican during the Primary voting, or an unaffiliated voter that ends up voting Republican most of the time?  Then, this article is for you.

Who is really in charge in this world?  Is there any difference if I participate?  If you believe that your vote does not matter, think again.  Here are just two stories from this year’s Republican convention on May 8, 2010.

Morgan just as they announced his win at Convention

Morgan Philpot —  Morgan avoided a primary by getting his 60% of delegates by … yes … just one vote.

Jon at his Convention Speech

Jon Hellander – Jon missed avoiding a primary by … just one vote.

Both of these candidates were supported by a wonderful grassroots effort.

The convention system is closed to only those who are allowed to vote as delegates.  Those delegates were elected in their neighborhood meetings, sometimes called mass meetings and caucus meetings.  The people that showed up made all the difference in who was elected to represent their neighborhood at the convention.

Now the primary is here.  Tuesday, June 22, we have a choice in Utah between Mike Lee and Tim Bridgewater.  Are you going to sit on the sidelines and let others decide who will get that seat?  In addition, statewide there are many other races, including the race between Jon Hellander and Mel Brown for the House Seat in District 53.

Primary races usually have low voter turnout.  This is crazy.  This is where the real decisions are made.  You can choose the candidate that most reflects your values, or just wait, and hold your nose in November and end up voting for the lesser of two evils.  This year will be different in the Senate race, because the aristocracy has ended with Bennett being eliminated by the delegates.  However, not every race had eight people running. 

Who decides this?  The Republicans.  Who does this affect?  Everyone.  Republicans typically win many races in rural areas, and historically throughout Utah.  Jim Matheson (D) has been an anomaly for this state.  I think that seat will end up Republican this year… GO MORGAN!

Here is my challenge.  Let your voice be heard.  You can sit back and choose between a Democrat and a Republican on the November ballot, or you can get out there, vote in the primary, and help determine WHICH Republican is actually on the ballot in November.

If you are Democrat, vote in the Democrat primary.  If you are a Republican or Conservative that is Unaffiliated, COME JOIN US.  You don’t have to live for the party.  You don’t have to be married to it.  I will always vote my conscience, as I hope you will as well.  Study the candidates.  See how they have voted if they have been in office before.  Get their report cards from the conservative groups that put them out, and make an educated decision.  Utah Grass Roots 2010 Report Card and Utah Tax Payers Association,    

You can vote easily at the polls, by changing affiliation.  Is it fair to have the Republicans continue to put forward someone who does not reflect YOUR VIEWS, because you are unaffiliated.  HELP US!

Choose a great candidate.  Your voice matters.  It is critical to our cause of liberty, and it’s not fair that you have been left high and dry by only having the candidate the few Republicans wanted.  Your right to be unaffiliated is wonderful, and I respect that.  However, the world is run by those that show up, and waiting until November just will not be enough anymore.

For more information on the Jon Hellander vs. Mel Brown campaign (click link to see previous article), please visit their websites.  www.hellander.com  or www.voteformelbrown.com. 

For more information on the Mike Lee vs. Tim Bridgewater campaign, please visit their websites at www.mikelee2010.com or www.timbridgewater.com.

Utah Senate Race Down to the Wire

Mike Lee with his wife Sharon

 

 

The Utah Senate race is down to the wire.  The top contenders appear to be Mike Lee and Tim Bridgewater.  An amazing thing has happened in this race.  For the first time ever in my lifetime, I am hearing Republicans speak out against a businessman in favor of an attorney.  Don’t get me wrong, I am not endorsing Tim Bridgewater or Mike Lee with this article, because I already said I would not be endorsing anyone in the Senate race, but this has been an interesting turn of events.

Tim Bridgewater with The Tea Party Express

My father is a businessman.  He makes his living in the plumbing business.  There are times when he will go after government contracts because the money is so good.  It is obvious government “anything” whether it is a job or a project has more money involved then the private sector.  He hates having to wade through all the extra paperwork and extra strings that are always attached to this type of work, but if it benefits his company, and benefits his employees, as long as he is honest in his work there is no conflict.  What’s more, because he is a generous man, he then feeds this money back into the private sector through charitable donations, purchases, and raising the standard of living for his employees who also put money back into the economy.  He pays union wages even though his company is non-union.  More good happens when government money is put back into the hands of the private sector.  It would be great if the government never did most of these projects and spent our money to begin with, but it does happen.

So, here we are in the middle of a U.S. Senate race, and many people are blasting Tim Bridgewater for being a businessman.  Now, I would expect that from the left because, “If you haven’t been to Columbia, well, then what business do you have even thinking of taking office.”  However, from the Republican Party this has been quite a shock.  I have never seen such an attack on someone from the business sector ever before.

Republicans usually take great pride in saying, we are the working man, that understands business, that have run businesses, and we can bring Washington back to it’s knees by running it like a business, rather than with an open tap with no end in sight to funding.  Businesses and households cannot be run indefinitely in the red, and businessmen have a tendency to look at the ridiculous spending in Washington and want to cut the waste.  This has been one reason most of the administrations of the Republican Party are filled with working men that have been successful in their businesses, not just lawyers and professors.

Tim Bridgewater comes to this race with much business experience, and I have been surprised by the dismissal given him for his experience that in other races would put him in the top position.  Tim Bridgewater should not be removed in anyone’s mind for his business associations.  Many of the allegations on Tim’s business practices can be easily refuted with very little effort.  He is a good candidate and he is someone who gets things done.

Because of the nature of the problems in this country, Mike Lee, with his Constitutional law background gives a unique perspective to this race as well.   Let’s face it, few are excited about another lawyer in DC, but if there is going to be a lawyer back there, you would want it to be one that understands the Constitution from a Judeo / Christian worldview.  Mike Lee is a good candidate, too.  Some people say he will get nothing done.  Sometimes that sounds pretty good to me, as Washington getting nothing done, would mean they weren’t messing in my affairs either.

All will be decided on May 8^th, unless of course, the people must choose between one of these two in a primary, which is not completely out of the question.

A Great Video on Utah’s Candidates

This video, by KBYU covers the intent of caucus meetings, held tonight, March 23, 2010, and interviews many different candidates running for different offices.  Utah’s Governor race is covered as is the U.S. Senate Seat.  You will be interested in hearing the answers of the different candidates to make sure you are supporting a Constitutionally-minded candidate that adheres to the 28 Principles of Liberty, as found in The 5,000 Year Leap. 

There is a bit of commentary from KBYU, and I don’t necessarily agree with everything they say, but if you listen to the candidates directly and make up your own mind, you will be an informed citizen. (Hopefully delegate.)

Utah Politics – Meet the Candidates (Well….most of them)

 

Independence Caucus on, January 15, 2010, held an event where all candidates officially running for the U.S. Senate Seat, currently held by Bob Bennett, would have an opportunity to speak to the grassroots movement in Utah.  They had to answer 80 questions to become vetted by Independence Caucus.  Unfortunately two of the candidates did not.  One was the Democrat, Sam Granato, and the other was Republican incumbent, Bob Bennett.

 

We had a wonderful time hearing from Bob Basso, who you all know and love from the YouTube videos, as Thomas Paine.  He spoke as expected about common sense.  We are Americans first and foremost.  In addition, although there is a political Left and Right, we must recognize that the people are moving closer to the moral Right, regardless of party. 

He chastened the “non-representing representatives” who would not answer to the people with a simple 80 question vetting process.

He also gave us hope with a wonderful story of 150 senior citizens in Brooklyn, New York called TOBFCS.  That stands for Tough Old Broads for Common Sense.  They are making a difference.  They have recalled two (2) city council members in Brooklyn, just to point out one difference they have made.

There is great hope in our country.  Even if the news ignores the 1.7 million people who marched in Washington DC, and the hundreds of thousands who gathered around the nation on their state capitols, we know who we are.  We were there.  I was there.  Do not wait to have the media take notice.  They report the news (or their supposed to), they do not create it.  WE DO!

I went into the meeting with my favorites and came out with great respect for all four (4) candidates.  In no particular order, I want to share my thoughts on each of them.  Remember, these are my notes, and my take on their words.

Tim Bridgewater:  Well, out of the bunch, he is the capitalist.  You can feel and hear his business experience.  He understands that growth occurs when businesses and people are left alone and entrepreneurs can succeed.  He is definitely a free-market advocate.  He talked about auditing the Federal Reserve.  He believes in a Balanced Budget Amendment.  He wants to see our spending cut over the next 10 years.  He recognizes that Wall Street was never really the problem, but government interference especially through Fannie and Freddie created the current housing mess.  To read more about Tim visit www.timbridgewater.com

James Williams:  Of all the candidates, I felt he is like most Americans.  He is just fed up and he is willing to put himself out there to change things.  I found him to be a humble man with strong opinions.  He discussed changing the way the budget is created.  If a new item needs federal spending 105% of that amount must be cut from some other place.  This will have a two-fold effect.  One, people will not want to create new spending without thinking about the cuts, and each new program actually cuts the budget overall.  He spoke of asking himself three questions when confronted with a decision. “Is it Constitutional?  Is it moral? Will this better the people of Utah and the U.S population?”  James is also for Auditing the Federal Reserve, cutting capital gains tax and corporate taxes.  For more on James visit www.voteforjameswilliams.com

Cherilyn Eager:  You can tell Cherilyn has been in debates before.  She moved quickly to her points and was focused on getting information out there.  She referred often to the founding fathers, and it is obvious she knows the documents.  She believes in the fair tax as proposed by www.fairtax.org and promoted by Joe the Plumber.  She believes in repealing the 16^th and 17^th amendments.  She wants the Dept of Education gone from our Federal system.  She also believes in Auditing the Federal Reserve.  She does not believe in a Balanced Budget Amendment because she believes that it will be misused to create times of war or crisis in our country so the amendment could possibly be ignored.  She agrees with George Wythe University in that they called Glenn Beck the “Cicero” of our time.  For more info on Cherilyn visit www.Eagarforsenate.com

Mike Lee:  Mike was impressive with his legal knowledge on the Constitution and talked about what his job is not.  He reminded us how far the government has moved from its original purpose.  He recognizes that money needs to be spent on a local level rather than on a national level or dictated by a national government.  He believes in Auditing the Federal Reserve, and recognizes that by printing money they are violating our 5th amendment rights because they are making our property (money) worthless.  He would like to repeal the 16^th and 17^th amendment.  He knows that Congress cannot (should not) legislate beyond the ground rules of the Constitution.  The Federal government needs to stop doing what it should not be doing.  We do not need Federal tax collectors either, because that should be the job of the states.  For more info on Mike visit www.mikelee2010.com

The biggest decision for the conservative movement is choosing which candidate to support.  All four of these candidates appear to have Constitutionally based principles.  I recommend you visit their websites, ask them questions, and vote your conscience.  Remember the only way you will get to vote for them is to become a delegate in your precinct.  To get more information on delegate training you can go to www.UtahRising.com find a representative in your county, and coordinate our efforts.  Utah Rising is not associated with the Republican party.