The year began much the same as 2008 ended: with increased federal spending, thanks, in part, to bank & car company bailouts. Both of which were highly criticized by an overwhelming majority of the American public. It was no surprise (to me, anyways) that a group advocated a February 1st “tea party” – which asked people to mail a tea bag and a note to each member of “their” Congressional delegation (two Senators and Representative) and the President. This “event” was endorsed by the Boston Tea Party, a libertarian party formed in 2006 with a one sentence platform that supports, “reducing the size, scope and power of government at all levels and on all issues, and opposes increasing the size, scope and power of government at any level, for any purpose.” However, there is no word as to the number of people that participated.
Not long after this “virtual” “tea party” Rick Santelli made a statement on CNBC advocating a “tea party” against Obama’s planned “mortgage bailout.” This statement was quickly dubbed the “Shout Heard ‘Round the World” and led to many people planning “Tax-Day TEA (Taxed Enough Already) parties” across the country. There is still debate about whether or not these groups were legitimate grass-roots or if it was “astro-turf”. Many of these groups joined together in a loose-knit association and held a protest in Washington DC in September in an event sponsored by Glenn Beck’s “9/12” organization.
I did attend one of these “TEA party” events shortly after moving to Myrtle Beach, SC only to find that the attendees and speakers were largely in favor of the “Fair Tax” and military intervention. I tried speaking to people about abolishing the IRS and Federal Reserve and was mostly ignored or put off, even by the “Fair Taxers” – who don’t seem to mind the spending so much as the form of taxation.
On a side note; Ron Paul had a best-seller with “End The Fed!” and Dr. Thomas Woods had a bes-seller with “Meltdown: A Free-Market Look at Why the Stock Market Collapsed, the Economy Tanked, and Government Bailouts Will Make Things Worse.” Also, two grass-roots tributes to the Ron Paul Presidential campaign were released. “Songs of Freedom: Tales From the R(3VOL)ution” – a collection of poems, short stories and essays – was released in the spring, was chosen as August Book of the Month by the Freedom Book Club and has been submitted for several book awards, including the Ben Franklin Awards & Eric Hoffer Awards. “For Liberty: How the Ron Paul R(3VOL)ution Watered the Withering Tree of Liberty”, a feature length documentary was released in September and has been entered into several film awards festivals.
For the second consecutive year I participated in”Operation Stop Thief!” The objective of Operation Stop Thief is to educate people about the scam known as the Internal Revenue Service. For instance, what would you say if I told you that the Grace Commission in 1984 issued a report that in part stated “100 percent of what is collected (by the IRS) is absorbed solely by interest on the Federal debt…all individual income tax revenues are gone before one nickel is spent on the services taxpayers expect from their Government.”? Wouldn’t you feel betrayed? Of course you would. How about if you found out that 56.14% of the 2007 Federal expenditures were outside constitutional authorization? I know, most people don’t care…that is exactly why you should!
Not to be forgotten is the crew of “The Motorhome Diaries.” A pair of freedom movement activists (accompanied by a “fellow-traveler”) that set out on a journey to “find freedom in America” only to find the “Police State” alive and well in Jones County, Mississippi. This along with the “Sam Dodson incident” and the MIAC report put a big black eye on the year and inspired me to form a publishing company (Free Patriot Press) with the purpose of “ensuring a FREE PRESS for the FREEDOM MOVEMENT.” After all, without a FREE PRESS there is no FREEDOM; without FREEDOM there is no LIBERTY!
The year was supposed to bring “hope” and “change”, but as we celebrate the beginning of 2010 we are left “hoping for change.” For the record, “change” does NOT mean a higher “national debt” (owed by the government, not the people), increased military presence in foreign countries, an increased money supply, more government involvement in “health care”, renewal of the PATRIOT Act or any other program that increases the size or scope of the government.