Congressional Races – 2012
Posted February 6th, 2012 by Julie
NE Tarrant Tea Party wants to give you every opportunity to cast an educated vote in the Primary Election. We are thrilled to offer you our Thursday Night Debate Series. We’re hosting debates in the hottest races in our area on Thursday nights throughout the season.
Unfortunately, several incumbents have no interest in visiting with tea party folks. This includes Vicki Truitt, Todd Smith and Kenny Marchant. For those races, we’ll still do a Q&A with the challenger so that you can hear what the issues are and how the candidate plans to address them, but those will occur either during an NETTP monthly meeting or tacked onto a different debate. Each event will include time for pre-written questions, as well as questions from the audience.
Events will last one hour from 7-8pm. Names in bold font below have confirmed participation. Names in italics have directly stated they will not attend either by telling us so or by ignoring us completely.
- Feb 13: TX House, District 98 – Vicki Truitt (i) vs Giovanni Capriglione TX (Since Truitt has not even responded to our invitation, this will be an interview of Giovanni held during our monthly meeting).
- Mar 15: TX House, District 101 – Matt Krause vs Stephanie Klick (venue TBD) – Redistricting may change the names here, and it may become D93.
- Mar 22: TX House, District 91 – Nash (i) vs Thombs vs Sapp vs Scoma vs Carlson (venue TBD) – Redistricting may change the names here.
- Mar 29: TX Senate, District 9 – Anderson vs Hancock (venue TBD) – These candidates have not yet been invited, but we’ll update attendance plans soon.
- Apr 5: Tarrant County Commissioner – Fickes vs Bickley vs Smith (1060 E Highland, Southlake)
- Apr 12: US Congress, District 24 – Kenny Marchant (i) vs Grant Stinchfield (since Marchant has declined to speak with the tea party, this will be a Q&A session for Grant, followed by a Q&A session for Stickland as listed below).
- Apr 12: TX House, District 92 – Todd Smith (i) vs Jonathan Stickland (since Smith has not even responded to our invitation, this will be a Q&A session for Grant as shown above, followed by a Q&A session for Stickland).
We’ll add in a debate for Senate District 10 if there ends up being more than one candidate running.
Posted January 24th, 2012 by Julie
Some of you may recall that 2 years ago NETTP put on a fantastic candidate fair, providing voters with the opportunity to speak personally with every candidate before voting. I can’t tell you how empowering it was to go to the polls and know each candidate on the ballot! I was able to make an educated and informed decision on public offices that I’d never even heard of prior to getting involved in the tea party! The fair received rave reviews and really put NETTP on the map as a tea party to pay attention to.
This year we were planning to host the same sort of event, but discovered that another group was wanting to host it instead. Knowing how much effort and work it took to pull it off in 2010, we let ‘em!
TCGOP Candidate Fair & Straw Poll
Saturday, February 4
Hurst Convention Center, 1601 Campus Dr, Hurst 76054
1-6pm – meet your candidates and vote in the straw poll
6-6:30pm – straw poll winner ceremony
For more details, click here.
I cannot encourage you strongly enough to attend this fair. There are two reasons to do so…
- It gives you an opportunity to know who to vote for and why. The candidates will not be giving speeches. They’ll be standing at booths and speaking one-on-one with voters who approach them. Think of it as a job interview, and ask them, “Why should I vote for you?” You’ll learn a lot about the issues and the roles of the different offices. And you’ll have the power to decide who best will deal with those issues and perform those roles.
- There will be a straw poll. You’ll have a chance to cast your ballot in each race in Tarrant County, and the winners will have bragging rights that they won the TCGOP Straw Poll! That’s a big deal. If you think the RINOs won’t have their supporters there voting for them, think again. We must as conservatives show up to unite behind the conservative candidates. We most certainly don’t want the RINOs announcing that they have won!
NE Tarrant Tea Party will have a booth at this event, and we need help manning it. We’ll divide volunteers up into several shifts to cover set up, the event itself, and tear down. Another endeavor we are working on (a petition to get term limits on the ballot for the City of Grapevine) also needs volunteers for their booth (Better Grapevine PAC). If you can help with either one, please email heyjuliesue@gmail.com.
Posted January 7th, 2012 by Konni
UPDATE: More tickets for the January 12th US Senate Debate are now available! But just a very limited number…
On Thursday, January 12, Empower Texans and the Texas Public Policy Foundation will co-host the first debate of the Republican US Senate candidates of 2012!
Participants are: Glenn Addison, Ted Cruz, David Dewhurst, Craig James and Tom Leppert!
Send In Your Debate Questions!
We neesd you to help define the issues in the debate! A segment of the debate will feature questions submitted on a special Facebook page we have established.
Visit http://www.facebook.com/First.Tx.Senate.Debate today and let us know what question you want posed to the candidates! (Be sure to specify which candidate you are asking the question.)
Get Your Debate Tickets!
So, would you like to attend the debate? We have a very limited number of additional seats available right now. The first 75 people to register will receive a ticket for themselves and a guest.
Register here: http://www.empowertexans.com/more-us-senate-debate-tickets/
ACT FAST – we have only a limited number of tickets available right now. To claim one for you and a guest, visit the link above before 5pm Jan. 3!
The debate will be held at 7 p.m. on January 12, 2012, at the Downtown Austin Hilton. Everyone attending should be seated by 6:30pm; doors close for seating at 6:55pm.
If you are registered for the TPPF Policy Orientation, please do NOT claim tickets here. Your Policy Orientation registration includes a pass to the US Senate Debate.
Posted December 13th, 2011 by Konni
My Second Town Hall
I am hosting my second town hall on Monday, December 19th, at Spring Creek Barbeque in Irving. Please come out and share your thoughts and concerns.
Stinchfield for Congress Town Hall
Congress’ Role
Monday, December 19th, 2011, 6:30pm
Spring Creek Barbeque
3514 W Airport Fwy
Irving, TX 75062
For more information, or to RSVP, please contact us at 214-549-6058 or
email us. I hope to see you there!
Posted November 1st, 2011 by Konni
As many are aware of, American Majority Action has come out publicly against HR 1380, the NAT GAS Act. It is also known as the Pickens Bill for the Texas billionaire who is pushing Members of Congress to give him anywhere from $5 to $10 billion in subsidies so the American taxpayer can shoulder the burden up front and he can make all the profit on the back end. For a quick recap, we agree on two things with T. Boone Pickens. We should end our dependence on foreign oil and we should be lifting the regulations domestically so we can explore our own natural resources.
However, as believers in the free market, we believe for there to be a whole scale change to natural gas, the markets here in the United States will create the demand. It should not take $5-10 billion in subsidies to do so and right now, there is no demand, so Pickens has asked Washington, DC to create an artificial demand. This, in my mind, is the status quo in Washington, DC, the collusion between Big Business and Big Government. It was described to me one time as a match between the Washington Generals and the Harlem Globetrotters. Everything is pre-arranged before the ball is even tipped and the take at the door split, but there still has to be a game to entertain folks and make them think there is actually something at stake. However, the entire thing is a sham. There is no real game.
So we have the party perceived as friendly with Big Business (the Republicans) versus the party of Big Government (the Democrats). For years, the American voter actually thinks it matters who wins and loses elections. In rare instances, it does matter. I think of the few dozen Members of the House and the handful of US Senators who are actually making a difference in Washington, DC (most of which is simply stopping bad legislation). But for the most part, there is no whole scale change. Government and its intrusion into our lives has continued to grow.
Then came April 2009 and the tea party movement. It was a reawakening of the silent majority. I have described it as a three stage process. One, the awakening (something is wrong!). Two, outrage and frustration (the rallies). Now we are in the third stage: action. That action is two fold in my mind. The first part is engaging in overt politics and actually winning campaigns. The second part is what the conservative movement has long been awful at and that is holding elected officials accountable once they get to either their state capitols or Washington, DC.
A perfect case in point is Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick (PA-8). As an incumbent, he lost to Democrat up and comer Patrick Murphy in 2006. But in 2010, with the support of the tea party in his area, the Kitchen Table Patriots, and American Majority Action, he won in a district that is heavily slanted towards Democrats in voter registration. Step One accomplished and an election won.
Then came Step Two-holding him accountable. A few months ago, it came to our attention that Fitzpatrick was a co-sponsor of the NAT GAS Act. We alerted the Kitchen Table Patriots to this as well as the inherent problems with the bill and they met with Fitzpatrick and asked him to get off the bill. Over several weeks, they kept the pressure on him and one month ago, he dropped his sponsorship of the bill. For that, the Kitchen Table Patriots and Fitzpatrick deserve congratulations (and thanks). Tea Party Movement-1, Pickens-0. And this morning we received more good news. Congressman Mike Turner (OH-3), after receiving pressure from the tea party umbrella group in Ohio, the Ohio Liberty Council, removed his name from HR 1380. This is real progress.
There is still a lot more work to do, not just on the NAT GAS Act, but on other pieces of legislation that need to be stopped. Then, as a movement, we conservatives can actually send Members to Washington, DC not just to stop the growth of government, but to be proactive in pushing great legislation that renews the American promise.
Posted November 1st, 2011 by Konni
DALLAS, TEXAS, November 1, 2011 – In an open letter released today, the organizers of The Grassroots Texans Network have offered to host a series of Lincoln-Douglas debates proposed by U.S. Senate candidate Ted Cruz. Cruz issued a public proposal to Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst in a letter released on Monday.
The Grassroots Texans Network is offering the candidates assistance in identifying local hosts, securing venues, negotiating dates and times and actively promoting the events to the public. The group has begun the process of reaching out to local grassroots organizations across Texas in order to identify potential venues and dates for the debates.
In the letter released today, group founder Ken Emanuelson notes, “the people of Texas are best served when they are provided with ample opportunities to get to know, full well, the candidates presented to them for election. We write to both of you today, in good faith, in the pursuit of that goal.”
Monday’s letter from Cruz to Dewhurst proposed a series of five debates in the Lincoln-Douglas style. The Grassroots Texans Network proposes to host the five events in various locations around the state, in order to maximize the opportunities for Texas voters to evaluate the candidates. Organizers are in the process of contacting local organizations in Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio and Tyler, and hope to host a debate in each of these cities.
(CLICK THUMBNAILS TO OPEN)
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| The Grassroots Texans Network Letter to Cruz and Dewhurst |
The Grassroots Texans Network Press Release |
Posted October 17th, 2011 by Konni
Since 1989, the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) has examined roll call votes to help identify which members of Congress stand up for the taxpayers’ interests and which fail to deliver on campaign promises of fiscal responsibility. The ratings separate the praiseworthy from the profligate by evaluating important tax, spending, transparency and accountability measures. CCAGW applauds those members of Congress who cling to their waste-cutting mission in the face of a recalcitrant spendthrift majority. However, those who turn a blind eye to the needs of taxpayers and forge ahead with their big-government agendas deserve to have a negative spotlight cast upon them.
CCAGW’s 2010 Congressional Ratings score 46 votes in the House and 62 votes in the Senate. By comparison, in 2009, CCAGW rated 120 votes in the House and 74 votes in the Senate. The decrease in the number of votes scored in 2010 is due to the stalemate that characterized the second half of the 111th Congress, as members of Congress did all they could to avoid taking politically difficult votes in the aftermath of the notorious 2009 stimulus, cap-and-tax, and healthcare votes.
CCAGW rates members on a 0 to 100 percent scale. Members are placed in the following categories: 0-19% Hostile; 20-39% Unfriendly; 40-59% Lukewarm; 60-79% Friendly; 80-99% Taxpayer Hero; 100% Taxpayer Super Hero.
Download the Full Introduction
Learn More About CCAGW
Posted October 4th, 2011 by Konni
by: Joyce Morrison, NewsWithViews.com
The United Nations Agenda 21 was signed by the United States in 1992 and 14 years later, people are still in the dark. If you were to ask at random the question, “Have you heard of Agenda 21?” the answer would be an over-whelming “No,” although it is being implemented in every local community.
Agenda 21 is a 40 chapter document listing goals to be achieved globally. It is the global plan to change the way we “live, eat, learn and communicate” because we must “save the earth.”
“Its regulation would severely limit water, electricity, and transportation – even deny human access to our most treasured wilderness areas, it would monitor all lands and people. No one would be free from the watchful eye of the new global tracking and information system,” according to Berit Kjos, author of Brave New Schools.
Maurice Strong, Secretary-general of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro said, “…[C]urrent lifestyles and consumption patterns of the affluent middle class – involving high meat consumption and large amounts of frozen and convenience foods, use of fossil fuels, appliances, home and workplace air-conditioning, and suburban housing are not sustainable. A shift is necessary which will require a vast strengthening of the multilateral system, including the United Nations.
In other words, the Global plan is for us to live on the level of third world nations. That means no box mixes or microwave meals, limited use of fuel of any kind, no air-conditioning and very little meat. When the cost of freon skyrocketed, when mad cow disease hit, the National Animal Identification System introduced, the price of fuel soared, it has become apparent that given time, these sustainable controls will be put into place – one way or another – and the Global Governance is powerful.
In 1992, Agenda 21 began to change our lives. In that same year, Al Gore wrote his book, Earth in the Balance. To advance his cause, he has now written another piece of fiction entitled, An Inconvenient Truth about global warming…..he even starred in the movie. He also thinks he invented the internet.
Although groundwork had been laid, it took a Bill Clinton to actually introduce something so invasive to our nation and get by with it without the public becoming aware. President Clinton appointed his “President’s Council on Sustainable Development” and he literally gave away the rights and freedoms the framers of the Constitution had provided.
People in the United States may not know about Agenda 21 and the President’s Council on Sustainable Development, but people around the world do. They know that Chicago has one of the greatest numbers of activities existing at the local, neighborhood and/or microregional level. They also know that the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) monitors and promotes activities in this field through their Office for Sustainable Ecosystem and Communities.
Found on a Slovakian website: “To the leading countries in the field of development but especially of practical using of sustainable development indicators belong to the U.S.A. At the top level these activities are promoted by the President’s Council on Sustainable Development (1996), which defined a set of ten national goals toward sustainable development. These goals express in concrete terms the elements of sustainability. Alongside the goals are suggested indicators that can be used to help measure progress toward achieving them.”
Agenda 21 is certainly not a secret. The internet is full of how Agenda 21 has been fulfilled through Smart Growth planning, land use, sustainable development and extreme environmentalism. The so-called agenda is grant driven to your city council or county board in terms of sustainable, visioning, partners, tourism and stakeholders, along with consensus and other terms with the intent to make you believe we are running out of all our resources and we must do our part and “save for tomorrow. [See Agenda 21's Table of Contents.]
It has nothing to do about “saving anything” – it has everything to do with “control.” Sadly, very few congressmen even know Agenda 21 is actually running our country when they are voting to send grant money back home. Agenda 21 is incentive driven as the planners know that greed in the heart of man will be his downfall.
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, better known as ANWR, has oil we need to be drilling for the security of our nation. Environmentalists don’t seem to understand we are dependent on foreign oil from nations who do not like us and our nation’s defense is at stake. The area where drilling would occur is just a dot in this vast land, yet they would gamble the strength of our nation in behalf of their favorite word –”pristine.”
At the same time, technology is advancing and we may not need the oil later. But we do need it now.
Henry Lamb of Eco-logic, Restructuring the U.N., The world changed on 9-11. No longer can the world tilt at the windmills of a fantasized “global village.” No longer can visions of “sustainable development” be justified in a world where “sustainable freedom” is the only possible solution to the economic and power vacuum that foments acts of terrorism.
There is a better way.
Nations can and, ultimately, must learn to live as neighbors, free from the web of “international laws” that dictate which activities are “sustainable” and which are xenophobic and unacceptable. Nation-to-nation relationships, just like neighbor-to-neighbor relationships, should be fashioned voluntarily, driven by mutual benefit. For the first time in a century, the United States may be exploring this possibility.
Henry Lamb is right. We can live as neighbors with other nations but we do not need to live under a “web of international law.” There are dedicated citizens in the United States who are wise enough to set our nation’s guidelines without following Agenda 21 and Sustainable Development as set forth by the United Nations.
To watch a 15 minute video that explains more on Agenda 21, please go to our link here: http://www.netarrantteaparty.com/?p=5795&preview=true.
Posted September 29th, 2011 by Konni
You Are Invited to:
A Texas U.S. Senatorial Candidate Forum
Saturday, Oct. 1, 2011
2:00 – 4:30 p.m.
Collin College Conference Center
Spring Creek Campus
2800 East Spring Creek Parkway
Plano, Texas 75074
Room AA135, Module AA
Campus Layout:
http://www.collin.edu/campuses/springcreek/images/SCC_campus_Map.pdf
Doors will open at 1:15 p.m.
Candidates Attending:
Glenn Addison
Andrew Castanuela
Curt Cleaver
Ted Cruz
Elizabeth Ames Jones
Tom Leppert
Lela Pittenger
The forum will give voters an opportunity to become better informed about their choices for elected representatives, and candidates an opportunity to express their views to the audience. Voters will select a Republican candidate in the March 6, 2012 primary election.
The question and answer format will be moderated by Mark Reid, past president of Texas Tea Party Alliance and a panel of select tea party members.
The forum is sponsored by Texas Tea Party Alliance, Co-Sponsored by African American Republican Club of Collin County, Allen Area Patriots, Amigo De Patriots, Articles of Freedom, Collin Young Conservatives, Collin County Conservative Republicans, Frisco Tea Party, Golden Corridor Republican Women, McKinney Tea Party, North Texas Tea Party, Plano Tea Party, Plano Republican Women, and Candidate coordination by New Revolution Now.
Posted August 11th, 2011 by Julie
Congressman Dr. Michael Burgess attended our NE Tarrant Tea Party meeting on Monday, August 8, to talk to us about Obamacare and the recent debt ceiling vote.
Click here for his presentation.
Click here for the Q&A session.
