Silent No More !
Photos
In 2009 a few strangers, actually more than 100, from around the Lehigh Valley got together for a viewing party of a special, conservative talk show host, Glenn Beck event centered around the theme, “We Surround Them”.
Basically, this means that there are more of us, the voting public, than there are of them, the politicians in Washington DC.
Beck’s event became known as the 9/12 Project and subsequently, small groups formed almost simultaneously across the country wherever Beck had an audience. Upon meeting each other these folks realized they had very much in common.
They weren’t all from the same neighborhood or high school. They held different views and came from various political backgrounds. They didn’t assemble to be a cheering squad for politicians of one party or the other. They didn’t meet to debate party politics or even discuss their differences. In fact a lot of these concerned Americans had not been politically active beyond the routine duty of voting.
No, this group came together to unite as the people we all were on September 12, 2001. The idea was to once again put aside ideological differences and remember that we have more in common with each other than those few things which divided us.
Meanwhile, on February 19 of that same year, a Chicago stock trader named Rick Santelli, went on a tare while on the trading floor about how over taxed we have become and suggested we have another tea party like they did in Boston.
In no time at all Mr. Santelli’s idea spread like wildfire across the nation. Everywhere there was a group of concerned citizens, like the small group of Lehigh Valley residents who came together, Tea Party groups began to pop up across the country.
Some were joined in thought with the 9/12 Project that Glenn Beck put together and others were just Tea Party groups fashioned after the idea Mr. Santelli proposed. In every corner of America, both on-line and in person, people gathered in these small groups to meet other like-minded folks who were tired of being ignored by politicians, sick of being taxed at every opportunity, and disgusted with the ever growing government and its intrusions into their personal lives.
These 9/12 Project and Tea Party groups were the beginning of a truly grass roots movement that organized to remind our elected officials that they work for us, and to restore our great country to its founding constitutional principles of limited government, fiscal responsibility, and individual rights. And so, here in our little corner of Pennsylvania, “The Original 9/12 Lehigh Valley Tea Party” was formed.
These groups started small with hand made signs and tax day protests on April 15th . They began to hold meetings and make plans to stay focused on restoring our nation. Getting educated on history, the constitution, and our founding fathers were just some of the common themes taking place in these groups. Then on September 12, 2009 millions, yes millions, of energized citizens from 9/12 Project and Tea Party groups from all over the country converged on Washington DC in a show of peaceful unified strength like our nation’s capitol had never seen before.
At first the media tried to ignore what was happening around the country at these events. The most egregious attempt to stifle this movement was the lack of main stream media coverage of the huge DC rally on 9/12/2009. Reports claimed small numbers even as low as a few thousand. Even FOX NEWS’ Bill O’Reilly grossly under reported the attendance at about only 65,000. Anyone who was there will testify to the crowd size, the enthusiasm, and the fervor with which a nation of strangers had come together that day to send a message to the politicians that we would be silent no more.
A lot has been said about the Tea Party since that time. Whether you’ve attended a meeting or have never even checked us out on line, you’ve probably heard something about us. Unfortunately, much of what has been reported by national media outlets about Tea Party groups across the country has been misinformed, incorrect, and sometimes just plain lies.
Tea Party members have been called racist, bigoted, old fashioned, bitter, dangerous, out of touch, and even un-American. We’ve been called horrible names and we’ve been accused of starting trouble. We’ve been ignored by reporters and parodied by comedians. We’ve even been called domestic terrorists by the current administration in DC.
However, what people find out for themselves once they attend one of our monthly meetings is starkly different. For the record, here are some facts you may not know about The Original 9/12 Lehigh Valley Tea Party and similar groups around the country.
It has been said that the Tea Party is nothing more than an extension of the Republican Party. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the LVTP has been harder at times on Republicans than on members of other political parties both in Harrisburg and DC. Members of the LVTP come from all political affiliations and enjoy the same friendly, informative, and educational experience regardless of their party affiliations. The LVTP has had speakers from across the spectrum and we do not endorse any candidates from any party for any reason.
When reporting on this grass roots movement of limited government and fiscal responsibility, the media tends to lump all such supporters under “Tea Party” banner. This practice had led many to believe we are a national organization with local chapters that promote our own political candidates.
The truth is that there is no national Tea Party headquarters to which we all report. Each 9/12 and/or Tea Party group has been formed individually by concerned citizens in their own regions and neighborhoods. Each group has different by-laws and mission statements, if any at all.
The Tea Party is an ideology of limited government, individual rights, and fiscal responsibility. It is not a nationally registered political party, nor is it an extension of any other organized political party. Though some Tea Parties do choose to endorse a candidate based on his or her beliefs, the LVTP does not endorse any candidates. Our mission is strictly education and action on issues.
Several specific “action committees” have evolved within the LVTP since its founding providing something for everyone. For example, we have book discussions and on-line forums. There is a Second Amendment group for those particularly interested in gun rights. We have a Tenth Amendment group focusing on states’ rights. We strongly support our troops by hosting a drop off table to send items to our troops serving around the world.
There are special events throughout the year for which we sometimes run bus trips. We plan some events, such as the annual Pig Roast in the spring and the Christmas Party in the winter just for our members to have fun with like-minded friends. Close to election times our Candidate Committee assembles an informative survey and asks all those running for office to respond both in print and in person at a Candidate’s Meet and Greet so that folks can get up close and personal and make their own well informed decisions.
Some committees have grown so large in scope that they’ve branched off into their own groups, like the Lehigh Valley Health Care Coalition which has a laser like focus on the problems with “Obamacare”. Our Compassion Committee puts together “Random Acts of Kindness” where they show up unannounced throughout the Valley and hand out food to the needy which has been donated by members of the group.
There isn’t much the LVTP members won’t tackle so long as it fits within the mission of limited government, individual rights, and fiscal responsibility. And, we have a good time doing it.
So, now that you know a little more about us, please consider joining us on the first Friday of every month at the Charles Chrin Community Center in Palmer Township. Our guest speakers are chosen for their knowledge and expertise on issues affecting every citizen throughout the various levels of government here in the Lehigh Valley and at the State and Federal levels. For even more information please contact us at lvtp.org.
We look forward to meeting you soon.
Jonathan Gerard
8:29 am on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
So you want to bring government back to the people? What do tea partiers think about the voter ID law in Pennsylvania?
Anonymous
8:36 am on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Why do high school students need to show photo ID for YEARS now to take the college SAT OR ACT test. Should they NOT have to show photo ID ? Seriously, if it is an absolute, no exception requirement for high school students, why in the world should it not be a requirement for adults who are voting for the PRESIDENT??
Are you all seriously considering that students should NOT have to show photo ID???? Students all have this "I do not have to do as I am asked" mentality in the classroom and I believe that it all stems from this sort of hamster wheel mentality that tries to fight everything that smells of taking responsibility for oneself in an effort to defend AGAINST those whose sole purpose is to commit fraud. I understand the other side of the argument...I really do...BUT the reality is that there is fraud happening constantly and we need to guard against it as well as we can. As one who has had their identity stolen, I suppose I have extra baggage that makes me feel so strongly FOR the ID. I am sure that many who are arguing would never committ fraud, but please understand we need to stand united against the real enemy. Those who lie, cheat and steal everything that we have.
Jonathan Gerard
8:52 am on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
I understand the other side of the argument...I really do...BUT the reality is that there is fraud happening constantly
You obviously don't. There is NO voter fraud. What photo ID do all H.S. students have? Almost ten percent of Pennsylvania adults do not have a photo ID--especially if they live in the cities and don't drive (or are too old to drive). To get an ID they'd have to take time off from work and take at least one bus to a photo center. This costs money and time and more motivation than someone has to have who already has a DL. When there is NO voter fraud, why do you want to make voting more difficult--especially when voter turnout is so low? Since 1789 constitutional amendments have worked to broaden the mandate--to include more and more people voting. The voter ID movement seeks to reverse this constitutional effort and decrease voter turnout.
You do NOT understand 1. that there is NO fraud and 2. the cost to people without an ID to get one. It seems to me that this represents a profound failure of imagination to understand someone in a different situation than your own.
BTW, even college students' IDs are not sufficient in Pennsylvania. Even Charlie Dent, our House Representative, could not vote if all he brought with him was his congressional ID, even though it HAS a photo.
Jonathan Gerard
8:52 am on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
The law violates a fundamental American principle. It pretends to solve a problem that does not exist. And those who support it are being duped by those who want to make it more difficult for the poor and elderly to vote.
Our signature when we come to vote is as valid as our endorsement on a check--after which a bank will give you as much money as you've signed for--without a photo ID.
Ronnie DelBacco
11:10 am on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Jonathan,
First of all, Thank you for posting with your name and please attend a Tea Party meeting.
Your arguments against Photo ID are incorrect. I'll go one by one, answering for myself and not the group.
1. I grabbed a link from just yesterday about Democrat voter fraud.(http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/maryland-politics/post/maryland-democrat-quits-congressional-race-amid-vote-fraud-allegations/2012/09/10/d0ff9b1e-fb73-11e1-b2af-1f7d12fe907a_blog.html) To say there is NO fraud is an out-right lie. I'll agree that it is low in PA, but not that it doesn't exist.
2. You said, "Almost ten percent of Pennsylvania adults do not have a photo ID--especially if they live in the cities and don't drive (or are too old to drive). Really? Prove it. From which source do these stats come?
3. DMV is open 6 days. The cost is FREE. The local Republican party has offered free rides for those who need a photo ID. And if they can't get motivated to get an ID then what makes you think they have the motivation to get to the polls, wait in line, and pay for a ride there?
4. The photo ID law intends to protect the integrity of the vote and reduce voter fraud per-emtively. Why don't you have a problem with all the many other places and reasons we need a photo ID? It is the democratic party fighting this law. Not even the Libertarians have expressed wide opposition because this law does not infringe on one's right to vote, but simply asks them to prove they are who they say they are.
Ronnie DelBacco
11:10 am on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
5. Accredited school ID is accepted and Charlie Dent's government issued ID is also acceptable. Read the rules. I don't need a profound imagination to understand the different situations of others. In my own family there are several scenarios regarding the photo ID law, and in every situation the solution has been simple.
6. There has not been an outcry from those who you claim will be affected. The only ones complaining have taken it upon themselves to complain on behalf of non-existent victims of this law. Where are the first hand accounts? I haven't heard one complaint about difficulties getting an ID that could not get quickly rectified.
Jonathan, your arguments simply do not hold water.
Jonathan Gerard
1:48 pm on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
No "outcry" from those who have been silenced? What a surprise. Congressional IDs have no expiration date and are not valid under this law--same with college IDs.
No matter how easy you say it is to get a photo ID it is a burden not placed on those whose life situation already gives them one. Never before in US history has anyone needed to make the effort (or lose time from work) to get a voter ID card. Further--look at the context, where other voter suppressing laws have been passed--all by Republican legislatures. Your imagination extends only to your family--to those whom you know face to face. Try to free it to see others , to see context, to see patterns.
Ronnie DelBacco
2:13 pm on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Jonathan,
In fact the Easton Republican Committee held a free photo ID information session at the Senior Center and we met some others, not in my family, who needed an ID. One woman, 103 years young, got the information she needed and was able to get a FREE ID.
Your charge that folks have to miss work is ridiculous. With DMV being open 6 days a week, the offer of free rides made very public, and months of notice, there is no reason "imaginable" why a person can't get one before Nov.
OK, I'll admit that if they are residing here illegally with no documentation, there might be a problem.
The real question is what are YOU doing to help these "victims of the republican legislature" acquire an ID...I mean aside from complaining about it?
Jonathan Gerard
2:23 pm on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
The Easton Democratic Committee is also helping voters get photo IDs. I hope that, once people get them, they are more likely to vote every year and that Republicans rue the day they came up with this shameful idea.
Ronnie DelBacco
2:31 pm on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Jonathan,
You didn't answer my question. What are YOU doing to help those who need an ID aside from complaining about the law?
And why are you so angry in tone? This isn't about the R or the D. Its protection for all voters, not just one party.
By the way, It's great that the Easton Democrats are finally helping. Sandra Vulcano wanted nothing to do with the idea when I mentioned a bi-partisan effort to her during the primary elections.
JVA
3:01 pm on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Ronnie - Rabbi Jon sucked you in to this discussion which has nothing to do with your original article. Rise above it, please.
I just saw info that 30,000dead people are registered to vote in Florida; I hope we get stats on how many of them voted on NOV 6.
Ronnie DelBacco
3:14 pm on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Yes, I realize his comment had nothing to do with my post, but I figured it was worht the debate since the facts are on my side.
Jonathan Gerard
4:49 pm on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Got me, JVA!
BTW, nothing wrong with thousands of dead people being registered to vote--so long as they don't vote. (And they don't.) You're just scaring readers. When you die, there is no mechanism to "unregister" you. The whole process of voting in this country is archaic. If online banking is safe and accurate, so can voting be made to be.
Same with the census. Statisticians know that sampling populations, like sampling the number of stars, gives you a more accurate count than physically counting each one.
gruntled
6:08 pm on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
You're kinda right, Jon. Northampton County has done a great job in the last few years
to keep the the list current. Elsewhere, not so much.
But, your assertion of zero fraud is unfounded.....just not prosecuted.
Jonathan Gerard
6:29 pm on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
I took my figure of "zero fraud" from Republican testimony in court, where they defended the Voter ID bill.
Ronnie DelBacco
8:06 am on Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Jonathan,
You STILL have not answered my simple question, "What are YOU doing to help those who need an ID aside from complaining about the law?"
Are you part of the solution or do you just want to continue the argument without offering any help?
Jonathan Gerard
9:43 am on Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Stop badgering me. There is no problem for me to help "solve". You still won't admit that. Pennsylvania Republicans have conceded that there is no significant voter fraud. This discussion is about whether the law enhances or diminishes American democracy. You are not Job and I am not God. You cannot get me into "court" to defend myself. My argument, from the start is against the law. It is not about what I or anyone else does to support or oppose it. Please stay on topic.
Whale Ofaguy
8:43 pm on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Explain why VA benefit cuts, reported in the NY Times yesterday, have been buried in the Romney-Ryan budget. The Times reports that Ryan has cut VA benefits and the Senate has voted it through. Republican desperately need their Congressional candidates to win this November in order for them to pass this bill in the House. They only need a hand full of seats to pull it off. The link for Times story is below. Take your time, it's a bit complicated, which is what Romney and Ryan apparently have counted on. In this way we veterans wouldn't be able to uncover it, but the Times has done that for us.
It comes down to one thing and one thing only: Both Romney and Ryan must tell the truth to veterans. They must say that "There are NO CUTS in the Ryan Budget to VA benefits" or they're lying to us and cannot be given the votes of veterans.
HUGE CUTS have been made. Read the article: http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/09/edsall-the-ryan-sinkhole/?nl=opinion&emc=edit_ty_20120910
Let's hold onto our VA benefits and keep Ryan from taking them from us. Romney never served in the military and does not have compassion for veterans. To keep our benefits, we must not give them our vote.
another point of view
11:32 pm on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Everyone misses the obvious. An analogy: Once upon a time there existed a very wealthy man who wanted to secure his wealth. He built a vault made of the strongest concrete. He purchased a heavy door outfitted with complicated combination locks. He installed alarm systems. And, finally, he hired a person to guard the vault. He moved his wealth to the vault. He relaxed until one day when he found the vault door open and all his wealth gone. How? His trusted servant forgot to lock the vault door and the guard fell asleep. The moral of the story: Security systems are only as good as the people who are charged to run them.
Pennsylvania has used signatures to identify voters for years. Election officials, as well as poll watchers, have always had the right to challenge a voter over identity. In fact, a court judge is assigned to be in chambers on election day to handle those challenges. Let’s pretend for argument’s sake that there is much election fraud and that precinct workers have permitted many ineligible people to vote, what special changes now occur because of photo ID?
Not much! That same election precinct worker still is the power that must either permit or deny voting. If there is fraud on a massive scale, precinct workers will permit voting regardless of photo IDs. The law has only changed ID requirements. Workers are still the same.
I am use to hearing how signatures have changed, now, I will hear:
"that photo was before my plastic surgery"
another point of view
11:44 pm on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Check the new ID law. We are all aware if you don’t drive you can get a document that looks like a drivers license if you produce a birth certificate. It’s free. No birth certificate? Then the Sec of the Commonwealth will get you a picture ID as long as you can produce a utility bill. (My neighbor Juan says a utility bill won’t beat deportation.) Still no ID?, You can still vote by provisional ballot and prove your identity later. How? Don't throw away those phone bills. You have religious problems with having your photo on an ID card? The state will give you an identification card without a photo so you can vote. It's still a photo ID. Get that logic!!! If you’re at the other end of the scale, college student without a drivers license, you can show your college ID. In fact, the state has authorized ID cards from 165 educational institutions in Pennsylvania. You can vote if you can show your ID from Bryn Athyn College of New Church, Christ the Savior Seminary, International Institute for Restorative Practices, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and many other unknown places. That ID from Rutgers won’t fly. You have to ask yourself the question, if someone wanted to make a phony ID card from Bryn Athwyn College how would the precinct worker ever know? All of this is silly. It’s up to the political parties to see that there are workers in every polling place to challenge questionable voters. This law is a joke.
Ronnie DelBacco
10:05 am on Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Jonathan,
You said I should stay on topic, but your entire rant about Photo ID has had nothing to do with my original post, yet I entertained your thoughts and shared my own.
So your claim of badgering is as ridiculous as your other arguments. You brought it upon yourself.
If you didn't want the discussion, why did you bring it up?
If there is no problem to solve, why are you still arguing a different viewpoint?
If you aren't going to answer my simple question (what are you doing to help those who need a photo ID) then this will be my last reply to you on the subject.
Have a nice day.
Amend Wun
9:52 am on Saturday, September 15, 2012
@Ronnie- the Rabbi's comment may be off point, but defending what seems to be voter suppression isn't winning points with me. If you, and the Tea Party, really stood for the rights of Americans, you too would be questioning the intent and implementation of this legislation. You would question it's haste and would be defending, not denegrating those affected by smugly stating how simple it is to get the proper ID. In the face of the fact that in person voter fraud is non existence, there is no reason to believe the upcoming election will be affected by this false fear. Yet you defend it, and you do so under the banner of the Tea Party. Which brings us back to the original topic of your post, which is about how amazing the Tea Party is even tho it defends the limiting of the rights of American citizens. To me, the Tea party comes off as extremists who use bully tactics to promote their isolationist ideology. They are by no means a voice of a majority.
High-On-Lehigh
2:02 pm on Saturday, September 15, 2012
Think Getting "Free" ID Is Easy? Read this:
http://www.866ourvote.org/pages/think-getting-free-id-is-easy-think-again
(Scroll down a page or so to read the numerous documented PENNSYLVANIA examples.)