Feet To The Fire

We have suggested in a number of articles over the last few months that it might be a good thing if we could have a state Tea Party for the Tea Party folks, with the idea being to put names to faces and to see if people felt there was someway we could help each other with goals.

The MS Tea Party had a gathering on January 6 to talk to our state officials. They also put forth agenda items. I hope that went well. The folks in Jackson are doing a super job. We got whacked with the flu and were not able to attend.

We try to spend some time throughout the week visiting other Tea Party web sites. Each Tea group seems to have it own level of activity. In some states there is an effort to get the Tea groups together to discuss what they might do within their state. For sure the states are where we need to put our efforts along with the National Republican Party within each state. Like government, institutions, complex organizations of any shape or size, change only happens through participation inside the group. Outsiders are seen as threats, outsiders are treated as unwanted street children, and outsiders have no voice.

So far I have only found Mississippi and the Texas Tea Parties, as groups, meeting with the state officials. I'm sure more Tea Parties will do similar events. These are the feet to the fire events no matter how cordial the meetings.

We wanted to pass this notice from Texas Tea Party Patriots site (not the PAC) out of Austin who put together with other Tea partiers a Q & A sessions with the TX House speaker candidates:

http://houstontps.org/?p=1518 :(Good read.)

In addition, here's what Tea Parties are doing to show a presence in Austin during the legislative session.

1) Many tea parties around the state will be attending an assembly in Austin Saturday to jointly create a list of agenda items to present to the legislature. All the HTPS survey question responses have already been forwarded to the organizers (Thank you, Wharton Tea Party!) and Neal Meyer and Alan Powell will serve as the HTPS delegation to the meeting. We hope to have some great feedback to present next week after the meeting, so stay tuned.

2) Texas Tea Party Patriots has also added a calendar to their site where Legislative Watchdogs can sign up to participate in holding the legislature accountable. If you are interested in participating in conjunction with all the other tea parties involved, click on the link and sign up for your day:

http://www.texasteapartypatriots.org/

3) You can also track legislation as it's introduced:
To monitor bills as they are introduced and move through the legislative process, go to the Texas Legislature Online at http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/Home.aspx.

Go directly to filed House Bills: http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/Reports/Report.aspx?LegSess=82R&ID=housefiled

Go directly to filed Senate Bills: http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/Reports/Report.aspx?LegSess=82R&ID=senatefiled

4) HTPS will be joining in a group effort to bring you important facts and educational opportunities to learn about how the Texas Legislature works. Many of us haven't made time to monitor the state government before, and we'll need to learn much more if we are going to ensure conservative ideas prevail on the state level. We'll have more details as they become available.

Don't forget; your representatives need to hear from you throughout the session, so you can find their phone numbers here:

http://houstontps.org/?page_id=1521

I really like what the MS Tea Party is doing down in Jackson. Its hard for us here in the north to have any sense as to how our state representative think of ussins.

The liberal Dems and their cohorts, the national media, somehow underestimated us badly in November. There isn't a chance they will make that mistake in 2012. (and maybe never again.) Obama's campaign committee is being formed, as we write, in Chicago. The guess is the GOP won't get around to this planning process for another year.

This more or less leaves us on our own which its not a unfamiliar place…If we can get another four or five hundred new conservative folks in the various state houses, with the courage to say 'NO' to Washington, that gets us better than half way to our goals. This will be our building process and the states will be the forts. Which is exactly what they should be.

There is a new chairman of the NRC, Reince Priebus. It shouldn't take long before we know if he/they want us to be a part of what they are doing and we with them. If they don't allows us a voice in the candidate selection process we will be back at square one but we'll see… We should be able know something on the state level very quickly.

It's cold and wet, the mules are tired, the ruts are deep, and its eighteen miles to the gin all up hill. That’s what we're looking at for the next 656 days and 21 hours.

Ron

docnick37@gmail.com

http:/theoxfordteaparty.blogspot.com/