On April 15^th we celebrated the second Birthday of the founding of the modern day Tea Party. I am reminded of the original Boston Tea Party in 1773. The same challenges that created the Boston Tea Party are the same challenges we face today. In the Army we called it SOSDD, Same old Stuff Different Day. Not only were the challenges the same but the solutions were also the same. The solutions are, a constitutionally limited government, less tax and spending, and fiscal responsibility; it seems so simple doesn’t it. So why does it seem almost impossible to achieve?

THE SHORT ANSWER IS ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES!

We must never ever again fall asleep at the wheel. You know what I am talking about, our country was rolling along we were principally happy our families were doing OK or jobs were doing OK and we just kind of nodded off.

Then all of a sudden we fell asleep and BAM we woke up and Barak Hussein Obama was standing in front of us and we were like what the Heck?

I fell asleep one time at the wheel and I’ll never forget it scared me so much you couldn’t pry my fingers from the wheel and my heart was pumping like a machine gun! That’s sort of how I felt after 2008?

Well patriots everywhere from sea to shining sea woke up and in 2010 we saw the greatest conservative victory Arkansas has ever seen. In my county, Garland County we elected 21 out of 22 positions and the one we lost we lost by only five votes.

That same scenario was repeated in counties all across Arkansas, what a day we had in Nov 2010!

My question is are we ready for 2012? Are you ready for 2012?

 Because I can assure you the Liberals will be ready. They got their wake up call in 2010 with the overwhelming conservative landslide on Election Day 2010. We must be twice as prepared and ready as they will be in 2012!

Elections have consequences! 2012 is coming! Are we ready?

Let’s not forget some of the victories of this past year. We have accomplished some pretty unbelievable things this past two years. Probably the greatest accomplishment is not what we have done, but rather what we have become. We have become the greatest most effective grassroots movement this country has ever seen. We have drastically changed the face of politics and we have drastically changed the political landscape forever.

And by the way, all this happened not because of the strength of the individuals. I cannot begin to tell you how many ordinary citizens took time off and spent time right here making sure they know the Tea party is alive and well in Arkansas. We have no single leader. We have no central organization. We are simply Patriots who have come together, united around a single set of defined principles.

These principles we rally around are the same principles that created this great nation and it is only these principles that will return us to the country that is not only a beacon of freedom and liberty to the world but also a refuge for all who come here, all who share our love for freedom and liberty.

But we are in danger of letting the flames of Liberty to burn out. The winds of government bureaucracies and big government are blowing hard to quench the flames of freedom and liberty and we must stop them. So how are we going to protect that flame and how are we going to stoke the fires of liberty so they never ever dwindle again.

Elections have consequences! 2012 is coming! Are we ready?

The first step is to solving problems in the future is to first understand the past. Let’s go back and take a look at history. You see the original Tea Party began because of the actions an overreaching and oppressive government. Unfair Taxation, violations of the British Constitution and an unfair manipulation of private business; these actions led the citizens taking matters into their own hands. Are we not at that same point today? We realize that taxing and spending, an overreaching government and a true ignorance and adherence to our constitution are the symptom to the illness that plagues America today.

The early Tea partiers by their actions changed their world. They set in place the fundamental principles that created this nation. It is a return to those principles that will return our nation to its former greatness. The early tea partiers knew that the problems they faced were just symptoms of a much larger issue. That larger issue of yesterday is the same issue today it is the loss of our unalienable rights and the loss of our individual freedoms and liberties.

That ill is our lack of appreciation and devotion to the fundamental rights granted to us by our Creator those unalienable rights of Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness.  Do you want to limit government? Do you? The only way we are going to limit government is to first reassert our God given, fundamental, unalienable rights  and defend them passionately and tirelessly. We have given away our freedoms and liberties so carelessly, so frivolously that now it seems as if those rights have no value. The value we place on our freedoms must be worthy of the sacrifice our young men and women pay every day across this world. What are we telling the soldier who is in Iraq trying to defend freedom when we sell our freedom every time we want the government to do something for us that we should be doing for ourselves? What does it tell the sailor who is gone for months on end away from his country family and friends that when we want something from our government we want it now and not only do we want it now we want someone else in the future to pay for it. Will the sailor think it is worth it? What does it tell the Marine who has put himself in harm’s way to be shot at or heaven forbid blown up that has to endure the loss of limbs or even worse, what do we tell them when he’s out there literally placing his life on the line every day, when we find it difficult to even get out of our cars to vote let alone participate in the political process? What does it say about the value we place on our freedom and liberty? It’s time we take this thing seriously. It’s time we treat it as if it is the most important thing in the world because it is. We must value our unalienable rights!

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. These words are no doubt some of the most recognizable words in America so why do we have such a hard time understanding them. I have read them over and over again and nowhere have I seen an unalienable right to a job or a paycheck. Nowhere can I find the unalienable right to a home or a home mortgage and nowhere have I found an unalienable right to healthcare. The only unalienable rights I found where the rights granted to each individual not by government, not by the majority but by Almighty God. If we believe this, if we truly believe this than why are we wasting our time trying to petition our government to get back what they cannot and should not take away. We lost our rights because we gave them away. The only way we are going to get them back is by refusing to give them up.

So if we are going to restore America we must first recognize that our rights our unalienable individual rights are the most precious thing we have as Americans. Secondly, we must realize that we lost these rights not because someone took them but because we gave them up, willfully and willingly in exchange for the crumbs from the government and its bureaucrats.

This brings me to my third point; that to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Our government was created for the sole purpose of protecting and defending the rights granted to us by God. We the people elect representatives who best reflect our values and understand what their job is. Unfortunately we have failed miserably at this task. We elect people for so many reasons. We elect them because we know them or are a friend of a friend but their job is to secure my rights. We elect some because of the influence they may have on the industry or business we are involved with, but their job is to secure my rights. We even elect them because the signed pledges or made campaign promises, but their job is to secure my rights. If governments are instituted by men to secure our rights then that is precisely why we should elect them. Makes you think differently about elections doesn’t it!

So if we understand it is all about our unalienable, individual rights and believe they are the most important thing to Americans and we must elect representatives based on their desire to protect those rights above all else, what’s else is left?

Elections have consequences. 2012 is coming! Are we ready?