NETTP is highlighted on FOX News’ Greta Van Susteren

Posted May 18th, 2013 by Julie

Fighting the IRS… AND State Rep Charlie Geren

Posted May 14th, 2013 by Julie

NE Tarrant Tea Party President Julie McCarty was interviewed yesterday by the NY Times and also by CBS 11 regarding the IRS Scandal, which aired at 10pm last night.  If you were at our meeting last night, you might see yourself on the news too!  Here’s a link to the video:

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2013/05/14/two-north-texas-conservative-groups-target-of-irs/

It is important to note that this kind of shenanigans is not only happening at the Federal level, but at the state level as well.  And it’s been slung at us by local State Rep Charlie Geren!  His bill requires 501c4′s to list their donors, which is clearly an infringement on our free speech rights.  Why do donors need to be listed? Answer: So the Left knows who to harass and intimidate.  But you know the worst of it?  Geren EXEMPTED Democrat donors in order to get their support… BIG UNIONS!

So Geren’s bill had full Democrat support and plenty of help from squishy Republicans as well.  It has a 3rd reading today which will easily pass, and then it goes to Gov Perry.  We are trying to discover if we have any chance of fighting it there, but will let you know in the next day or so if we need your help.

Meanwhile, Julie was also interviewed by the Austin Statesman, a paper that covers state politics.  So this article covers the IRS Scandal AND the Charlie Geren bill.  You can read it here.  It’s got some hilarious tweets by Michael Quinn Sullivan too.  Worth reading.  Julie is quoted in the opening statements, in the section on the IRS (titled “TP Glee”), and again at the end of the section titled “Meanwhile, on the House Floor…”.

As you see articles come out, let’s spread ‘em around.  It’s a great opportunity for our group to build name recognition and credibility, as well as to continue to educate the voters.

2013 Local Election Results

Posted May 11th, 2013 by Julie

The tea party lost in a big way today.  We endorsed in 8 races and won only 1.  (Big congratulations to newly-elected Watauga Councilwoman JoLynn Haussmann!)

Here’s something interesting to note…

In the 2012 Republican primary, 11,500 people voted in HEB.  Those are Republicans only.  In today’s elections for the same area, only 4800 voted.  That includes Republicans AND Democrats.  That means nearly 7000 people chose not to vote.

At the beginning of the year we did a survey of our tea party members asking what topics were most important.  The overwhelming number one response was local politics.  And yet, when  I put out calls for folks to help our endorsed candidates blockwalk, nobody showed up for all but one of the endorsed candidates.  When I asked for help at the polls, only a handful from our tea party responded.  The same is true with donations.

I’m hoping that tonight’s loses will drive a point home.  Winning an election is all about getting out the vote.  If you don’t campaign, you lose.  If you don’t have volunteers to help you campaign, you cannot get out the vote.

I know we will do better next time, right?

The winners of the local elections are in BOLD font.

 

Office	Name	Place		NETTP Vote
Bedford City Council	Champney, Ray	Place 3		0
Bedford City Council	Olsen, Sherri	Place 3		10
Bedford City Council	Leal, Randy	Place 3		0
	no opinion			4
Bedford City Council	Caruso, Sal ENDORSED	Place 5		11
Bedford City Council	Turner, Roy	Place 5		0
	no opinion			3
BISD Bond Election	oppose ENDORSED			7
	support			0
	no opinion			7
Birdville ISD	Ritter, Jeffrey	Place 6		7
Birdville ISD	Kunkel, Ralph	Place 6		0
	no opinion	Place 6		7
Carroll ISD	Palazzo, James ENDORSED	Place 7		11
Carroll ISD	Archer, Chris	Place 7		0
	no opinion			3
Carroll ISD	Korman, Matthew Phillip “Matt”	Place 6		0
Carroll ISD	Torolopoulos, Sam ENDORSED	Place 6		11
	no opinion			3
Euless City Council	Easton, Darl ENDORSED	Place 3		12
Euless City Council	Martin, Linda	Place 3		0
	no opinion			2
Euless City Council	Eilenfeldt, Linda	Place 4		0
Euless City Council	Wilson, Warren ENDORSED	Place 4		11
	no opinion			3
Euless City Council	German, Bruce ENDORSED	Place 1		11
Euless City Council	Stinneford, Tim	Place 1		0
	no opinion			3
Grapevine City Council	Leal, Leon	Place 3		12
Grapevine City Council	Lease, Mike	Place 3		0
	no opinion			2
Grapevine City Council	Blum, Mark Lewis	Place 4		7
Grapevine City Council	Freed, Darlene	Place 4		2
	no opinion			5
Grapevine Term Limits	support ENDORSED			10
	oppose			1
	no opinion			3
Haltom City Council	O’Dell, Willis Edmond	Place 7		0
Haltom City Council	Garcia, Richard Villa	Place 7		7
	no opinion			7
HEB ISD	Campos, Fred Jr.	Place 1		3
HEB ISD	Cole, Julie	Place 1		0
HEB ISD	Probasco, Alicia W	Place 1		1
	no opinion			10
HEB ISD	Romero, Matt	Place 3		0
HEB ISD	Sinisi, Jason	Place 3		0
HEB ISD	Solmon, Allan ENDORSED	Place 3		13
	no opinion			1
Hurst City Council	Booe, David G.	Place 1		3
Hurst City Council	Shotwell, Howard	Place 1		0
	no opinion			11
Keller City Council	Hill, Bob	Place 1		0
Keller City Council	Bryan, Debbie	Place 1		4
	no opinion			10
Keller ISD	Davis, Karina	Place 2		10
Keller ISD	Stevenson, Kevin	Place 2		0
	no opinion			4
Keller ISD	Lotton, Cindy	Place 3		0
Keller ISD	Davidson, Jack	Place 3		10
	no opinion			4
Northwest ISD	Simpson, Anne Marie	Place 3		0
Northwest ISD	Mergenthal, Edward (Jr)	Place 3		0
Northwest ISD	Morris, Kyle	Place 3		0
	no opinion			14
Watauga City Council	Womack, Andrew	Place 3		0
Watauga City Council	Haussmann, JoLynn ENDORSED	Place 3		10
Watauga City Council	Nickerson, Timothy	Place 3		0
	no opinion			4
Watauga City Council	McCauley, Cristy	Place 5		0
Watauga City Council	Clark, Melva Ann	Place 5		0
Watauga City Council	Knight, Ricky	Place 5		5
	no opinion			9
Watauga Mayor	Garcia, Hector	Mayor		0
Watauga Mayor	Zappavigna, Joseph	Mayor		0
Watauga Mayor	Daniel, Robert	Mayor		8
	no opinion			6

The IRS apologizes? I’m gonna need more than that…

Posted May 10th, 2013 by Julie

We haven’t talked about it much but, YES, we at NETTP were harassed for years by the IRS! In fact, they didn’t come after us just once, but twice.  Here are some of the many demands that they made (but didn’t necessarily get):

• A print-out of every page on our web site (that would’ve been hundreds of pages of paper)
• Every tweet from our twitter account
• Personal resumes from all of our Board Members
• Every task NETTP and our volunteers have ever performed (even research), how much time we spent on it, and what percentage of our time each task took
  
• Copies of every flyer we ever made – and every flyer any guest speaker has ever handed out
• Copies of every Facebook post (every Facebook post!!!)
• Explain our relationship with Verify The Recall
  
• Provide details on every fundraiser or solicitation for funds we’ve ever made, and every flyer or email or advertisement or announcement relating to them
  
• A list of all items we’ve ever purchased, from what business, at what price, and how much we sold them for
• The name of every volunteer and everything they’ve ever done for us
• A copy of every single e-mail ever sent out by our group
• A list of every candidate who’s  ever been mentioned on our website, e-mail, twitter…
• All training provided, who conducted it, where, when, what did they hand out, and who attended
• And this is only a partial list of the heavy-handed, police-state tactics designed to intimidate us out of existence. (Click here to read more).  We didn’t cave.
•  P.S. We didn’t name names either.

Jay Sekulow and the American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ) took up our case (and that of many other tea parties) at no cost to us.  Julie McCarty (NETTP President), Bob Smith (NETTP Treasurer), and Donna Smith (NETTP Secretary) spent countless hours compiling the requested data.  The ACLJ had wanted the answers for their files but would not submit anything without our permission.

Now it seems the IRS has been caught in their game (all thanks go to the ACLJ!) and has had to issue an apology.  An apology?  That’s all we get for the hours and hours of work done to stop their attacks?  Perhaps folks should be fired… or sued.  

The ACLJ has issued a press release.  Please read it by clicking here.  You can also read the official apology by clicking here.  Furthermore, our friends at the ACLJ have requested that everyone share this info by forwarding it on, posting it on Facebook, tweeting it, etc.  It’s the least we can do after they have saved us countless dollars on attorney fees!

Jay Sekulow was on FOX News explaining the whole situation and expressed very well the outrage and disgust and frustration of tea party leaders across the nation… and he exposes some lies the IRS tried to put into their excuses as well.  Take a look…

 

Tell the Freshmen (and all Reps) to Stand Strong!

Posted April 27th, 2013 by Julie

Friday in Austin, the Freshmen (you know, the fabulous conservatives we’ve all been excited about!) were split into groups for separate meetings and pressured to vote to raid the Rainy Day Fund (RDF) for $2 billion to fund the new water plan. The vote requires 100 supporters, so the freshmen votes are necessary to make it work. They are being told if they do not vote for it, the rest of the Republicans will instead make a deal with the Dems and will agree to spend $4-5 billion of the RDF instead of $2 billion.

In return for their vote to raid the RDF, they are being promised cuts to the Business Margins tax, that the fetal pain bill and the campus carry bill will be sent to the floor for a vote (instead of being held up in committee), tax credits for R&D, and campaign money from lobbyists to line their pockets. (These deals are all under the table).

There is also an expectation that in a meeting w/ Gov Rick Perry on Monday he will pressure them to support this plan and in return will promise to veto any effort to raise the spending cap.

Of course, these Establishment folks have made promises before and not kept them.  There is no reason to think they will keep the promises this time either.

It’s important to note that the water plan is needed, but it does not need to be funded by the RDF.  We have more money coming into Texas this year than ever before, but the House still wants to spend every dime AND dip into the emergency reserves.

The pressure is immense. In a room with 10 freshmen, 8 signed pledges to support this plan. Hey, spending $2 billion is less than spending $5 billion, right?  HOW ABOUT NOT SPENDING ANY??? What happened to that plan? And shame on any legislator that uses life and safety issues to manipulate others in giving them what they want.  We have a Republican majority in the House…  these things should pass regardless!

Many of the conservative freshmen campaigned on a promise to protect the RDF and even put it in writing. If they now vote for raiding the RDF, their challengers will have a heyday with it. And not only that, it’s just not the right answer anyway!

The vote happens at 2pm on Monday.

I encourage you to send a message to your State Rep asking him/her to vote AGAINST HB 11 on Monday. Email, call, fax… whatever it takes, they need to hear from you and have something to back themselves up with before noon Monday.

I have confidence in our NE Tarrant State Reps. Why? Because they are constantly in touch with the voters who put them there. Let’s not stop now!  Even if they agree with us, they need our back up!

Unfortunately many of the rest of the freshmen are not in touch with their voter base, and they cave very easily. Contact MUST be maintained.  Please share this message to encourage others to hold their Representatives accountable.

Contact your State Reps at the following (these are deliberately their campaign email addresses and not their Austin email addresses, but Austin addresses are ok too):

• Jonathan Stickland:  votestickland@gmail.com
• Giovanni Capriglione:  votegiovanni@gmail.com
• Stephanie Klick:  stephanie@stephanieklick.com
• Matt Krause:  matt@mattkrause.org
• Or, click here to find contact info for your State Rep.

WHAT DO I DO?

Step 1:  Send a message to your State Rep to vote NO on HB 11.

Step 2:  Share this email with every conservative you know in Texas and ask them to do steps one and two as well!

READY, SET, GO!

 

 UPDATE:

Michael Quinn Sullivan of Empower Texans wrote a great piece on this same subject, but he is much better at explaining things!

Get on the NETTP email list by clicking here.

 

Get on the NETTP text alert list by clicking here.  You’ll receive text messages on urgent matters.  Phone numbers are included so you can immediately just touch the number on your smart phone and be connected to the right person.

 

NETTP Leadership Picks for Local Elections

Posted April 23rd, 2013 by Julie

In every election season, the leadership teams of NE Tarrant Tea Party constantly get asked the same question:

Who should I vote for? 

We are pleased that you would come to us!

As we do for every election, the members of the NETTP Steering Committee, Board and PAC have indicated in the table below who they lean towards in the various local races in NE Tarrant County.  Fourteen people participated.  Some simply marked “no opinion” because they were not familiar with a particular race.  Some had to hold their noses and vote for a particular candidate simply because there was no one better!  But in the end, this is what we came up with…

 

Office	Name	Place	Vote
Bedford City Council	Champney, Ray	Place 3	0
	Olsen, Sherri		10
	Leal, Randy		0
	no opinion		4
Bedford City Council	*Caruso, Sal	Place 5	11
	Turner, Roy		0
	no opinion		3
BISD Bond Election	oppose		7
	support		0
	no opinion		7
Birdville ISD	Ritter, Jeffrey	Place 6	7
	Kunkel, Ralph		0
	no opinion		7
Carroll ISD	*Palazzo, James	Place 7	11
	Archer, Chris		0
	no opinion		3
Carroll ISD	Korman, Matthew	Place 6	0
	*Torolopoulos, Sam		11
	no opinion		3
Euless City Council	*Easton, Darl	Place 3	12
	Martin, Linda		0
	no opinion		2
Euless City Council	Eilenfeldt, Linda	Place 4	0
	*Wilson, Warren		11
	no opinion		3
Euless City Council	*German, Bruce	Place 1	11
	Stinneford, Tim		0
	no opinion		3
Grapevine City Council	Leal, Leon	Place 3	12
	Lease, Mike		0
	no opinion		2
Grapevine City Council	Blum, Mark Lewis	Place 4	7
	Freed, Darlene		2
	no opinion		5
Grapevine Term Limits	support		10
	oppose		1
	no opinion		3
Haltom City Council	O’Dell, Willis Edmond	Place 7	0
	Garcia, Richard Villa		7
	no opinion		7
HEB ISD	Campos, Fred Jr.	Place 1	3
	Cole, Julie		0
	Probasco, Alicia W		1
	no opinion		10
HEB ISD	Romero, Matt	Place 3	0
	Sinisi, Jason		0
	*Solmon, Allan		13
	no opinion		1
Hurst City Council	Booe, David G.	Place 1	3
	Shotwell, Howard		0
	no opinion		11
Keller City Council	Hill, Bob	Place 1	0
	Bryan, Debbie		4
	no opinion		10
Keller ISD	Davis, Karina	Place 2	10
	Stevenson, Kevin		0
	no opinion		4
Keller ISD	Lotton, Cindy	Place 3	0
	Davidson, Jack		10
	no opinion		4
Northwest ISD	Simpson, Anne Marie	Place 3	0
	Mergenthal, Edward (Jr)		0
	Morris, Kyle		0
	no opinion		14
Watauga City Council	Womack, Andrew	Place 3	0
	*Haussmann, JoLynn		10
	Nickerson, Timothy		0
	no opinion		4
Watauga City Council	McCauley, Cristy	Place 5	0
	Clark, Melva Ann		0
	Knight, Ricky		5
	no opinion		9
Watauga Mayor	Garcia, Hector	Mayor	0
	Zappavigna, Joseph		0
	Daniel, Robert		8
	no opinion		6

These choices shown above are not to be mistaken for tea party endorsement nor approval, and the winners are not “tea party candidates.“  Again, sometimes we have to pick between a slate of candidates without liking any of them all that well!  But since these are the choices voters are faced with, these are the names we chose from.

The names marked with an asterisk (*), however, have been fully vetted by the NETTP PAC and received a full endorsement.

The list of early voting locations in Tarrant County is found here.  During early voting, you may vote in ANY city in Tarrant County as long as you are a Tarrant County resident.

Monday – Friday, April 29, 2013 – May  3, 2013                 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 4, 2013                                                        7:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, May 5, 2013                                                          11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Monday – Tuesday, May 6 – 7, 2013                                  7:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Election Day is May 11 from 7am-7pm.

Click here for more information on this election.

 

 

Watauga Candidate Endorsed By NETTP PAC

Posted April 9th, 2013 by Julie

Jo Lynn Haussmann has been endorsed by NE Tarrant Tea Party PAC. She is actively involved with the NETTP, volunteering and serving as an active citizen lobbyist in Austin through NETTP.  She is deeply devoted to conservative ideals while actively fighting for limited efficient government. Additionally, Haussmann dedicates valuable time and resources to help conservative candidates get elected in local positions.

Her goal is to pick up where current City Councilman Gary Johnson has left off. Johnson has endorsed Haussmann to run for his place. With continued integrity and support for her constituents—she recognizes their tax dollars have been wasted enough.  Haussmann sees leaders who take advantage of the people and their finances.  It is time the city management employs those who will expect accountability from all areas of the municipalities. Haussmann will take responsibility to work with the new mayor and city manager in order to monitor city spending and accountability. She is totally committed to financial responsibility and transparency.

For too many years, Watauga has not had true “management” of the city, and there has been misappropriation of funds as well as no accountability to department management.  It is time for the city council to do their job and manage the city. “When the cat’s away, the mice will play”… this has been the situation for too long here in our city. Now that the city council has completed investigations and has cleaned out the “good ol’ boys”, it is time for new beginnings. Integrity and “true” management are needed; Haussmann believes the current city council is doing a fabulous job in that arena. During these elections, the community needs to step up and vote, ensuring it continues.

Two seats are open for city council, and it is up to the people to make the choice. In a small city like Watauga, one vote can make the difference. Watauga has a population of 25,000; however, only approximately 500 turn out for the elections.

Stand up and take the responsibility to ensure Watauga places a person who aligns with the six core tea party beliefs of limited government, fiscal sanity, personal responsibility, rule of law, national sovereignty and the traditional two-party system, giving you the security of knowing you are delivering Watauga another person who will do the “right job.” Haussmann is the only candidate chosen in Watauga who values these beliefs and will represent them.

Haussmann looks forward to pitching in and promoting small businesses in our city while being instrumental in bringing in new businesses. Small businesses are the backbone of a city that thrives on their tax revenue thus building a stronger community. If we can help promote and build their business, it will be a “win-win” for both businesses and the city.

“I’ll be here to work for you, not against you! I will do all I can to allow citizens to have an opportunity to work with us—“Jo Lynn Haussmann

FACEBOOK:  Jo Lynn Haussmann for Watauga City Council Place 3

CONTACT:  817-637-9009

Donations

NETTP PAC Endorses Two Carroll ISD Candidates

Posted April 8th, 2013 by Julie

The NE Tarrant Tea Party PAC enthusiastically endorses Sam Torolopoulos for Place 6 and Jim Palazzo for Place 7 in the Carroll ISD election.

The incumbents in these two races have chosen not to seek reelection and the citizens of Southlake have an opportunity to elect two principled candidates who are uniquely qualified.

Because of funding cuts and challenges presented by the “Robin Hood” school financing plan, Carroll ISD faces budget shortfalls. This has prompted calls for tax and fee increases. It is clear that balancing the budget, prioritizing spending and providing fiscal transparency are the compelling issues facing the school board.

Taxpayers defeated the previous proposal for a tax increase and in the current environment are likely to do so again. Both Sam and Jim are experienced leaders and managers who understand how to exercise fiscal discipline while recognizing the impact their decisions have on students, teachers, administrators and support staff. Each candidate brings a unique perspective that will benefit the overall operation of the board.

 

Sam Torolopoulos, candidate for Place 6, has lived in Southlake for twelve years. He has four children with two currently in Carroll schools.

His qualifications include experience in corporate finance, accounting & auditing for both municipalities and privately held businesses. He holds a B.S. in both Accounting & Business Administration from Illinois State University. His focus is on a balanced budget, fiscal transparency, term limits and NO tax increase.

Spending should be prioritized to the classroom where it provides the most benefit. For more information Sam has a campaign website and is on facebook.

 

 

 

Jim Palazzo, candidate for Place 7, has lived in Southlake for seven years. He has four children, with two currently in Carroll schools. His qualifications include an MBA with extensive executive level leadership and management experience. He has worked in healthcare administration throughout his career and was the CEO of a 60-physician medical practice and the administrator for a heart hospital. His focus is on protecting our kids, preserving academic excellence, promising financial transparency, term limits and balancing the budget with NO tax increase. For more information Jim has a campaign website and is on facebook.

 

The NETTP PAC successfully endorsed and supported six candidates in last year’s primary election and five went on to win in the general election. That happened because Tea Party members voted, encouraged others to vote, volunteered to help with campaigns by putting up signs, block walking, phone banking and contributing money to worthy candidates. They need your help to get them to the finish line. In the previous CISD election the candidate we endorsed won by 16 votes! Every vote counts.