To the FWB City Council:

On behalf of the FWB Tea Party, several of you indicated that you had not heard from the “first” person who was opposed to a property tax increase.  Well, take a good look around because you are now surrounded by not just registered voters, but people who pay taxes and actually show up to vote, as will occur in March 2011.

Perhaps you didn’t notice that voters rejected a sales tax a few weeks ago – less taxes mean less taxes!  It is the responsibility of the City Council to represent the citizens, and it was asserted that no one wants to cut spending, let me point out a few items that you can cut, since the City Council chose not to take a hard look at the budget and reduce spending.

Crestview found a way to cut $3,000,000 from their budget, and we are asking that you ask our staff to go find more cuts.

• There are roughly 98 employees in parks and recreation.  They cleverly list Golf Course employees (31) separately, but seriously, no I think golf courses are the definition of recreation.  By comparison there are 108 Police and Fire employees.  Surely, a hard look at Parks and Recreation is in order.
• You approved a $100,000 upgrade to Fred Hedricks, with an undefined future cost of $250,000.  That’s nearly 40% of their budget, and represents almost the entire tax increase.  You are setting the stage to tie the hands of the next City Council with a future tax increase.
• We have 3 rec centers with a lot of employees.  I have been to those during daytime hours and it appears there is more staff than patrons.  Surely we can reduce staffing and create a more efficient system.  I have not completed research on the Senior Center off Memorial.
• Our adult recreation leagues have had plummeting usage, yet the city continues to accept this from the league management.  Participation has decreased in the last 3 years by 8%.
• Our golf courses bleed red ink.  Enough.  And I’m a 7 handicap golfer
• Take Mr. Reeves up on his proposal to cut $20,000 from the budget on fireworks.  Niceville has found a way to get private donations to make it work.
• Continue to reduce funding to the Chamber and EDC – are we really seeing a measurable return on investment?  Why are we using tax dollars to the Chamber – our other municipalities don’t do this in Okaloosa.
• Are we fully leveraging cost savings from the library co-operative program?  This is one area (library usage) that has spiked during the recession, and due to rising fixed costs, such as a costly pension program, we cut hours at the one place our citizens are actually using.
• If you want a permit for a park rental such as the Landing, you have to go to the Fred Hedricks center on Jet.  Why on earth can’t this be done in City Hall where we collect water bills?
• We pay a corrections officer to manage inmates (non-violent) to pick up trash.  However, it appears we have kept 7 employees on the payroll who were supposed to be removed to save costs.  So this program has actually increased costs to the city!
• I have heard that Director level employees have received pay hikes, despite claims that employees have not received pay increases in several years.
• There is a lot of unused space in city hall facilities why we pay rent in other locations.  A decent facility plan should resolve this and save money.
• Do we charge enough rent to groups such as StageCrafters to use the Municipal Auditorium? I don’t think so, which means taxpayers are subsidizing private businesses earning a profit.

That’s the “short” list.  You get the point – there is a lot that can be cut, and we in the FWB Tea Party are asking that you do just that.  And if you don’t, we will see 5 of you in March!

We have developed a program to help other Tea Parties get beyond where they are today to truly make a difference in their local and regional communities.

• Led a major effort to beat back a sales tax increase in our county.  http://www.nwfdailynews.com/news/proposal-31344-board-school.html. This referendum was defeated 56 – 44, the most lopsided election on our local ballots.  This same referendum passed in many other counties in Florida.

• We still host rallies that draw well in excess of 500 attendees – such as this past weekend.  www.wcvctv.com – Watch the teaser video and see the part with Brigette Gabriel.  Keep in mind we live in a lightly populated region.

• Hosted local candidate forums that drew over 150 attendees on a summer night.  http://www.cvctv.info/channel.php?channel=election

• Direct involvement with the Governor of Florida on Senate Bill 6.  I was contacted personally by Charlie Crist on this issue.  While many view Crist as the enemy, I view him as the Governor of Florida – an elected official to be educated, not insulted. http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/corporate/critics-of-sb-6-the-education-bill-run-gamut-from-tea-partiers-to-teachers/1086982

• Advised our State Senator (and potential 2012 Florida Senate President) Don Gaetz on a jobs bill http://www.allbusiness.com/government/elections-politics-politics-political-parties/13924999-1.html

• Helped one of our major industries in NWF – the Charter Fishing Fleet, when it came under attack by NOAA and the Obama Administration.  http://www.nwfdailynews.com/news/amberjack-21781-gulf-federal.html

• Was attacked by the Council on American Islamic Relations because we chose to defend the First Amendment http://www.nwfdailynews.com/news/video-31705-party-group.html and made it all the way to Al Jazeera http://www.aljazeerah.info/News/2010/August/8%20n/Muslim%20American%20News%20Briefs,%20August%207,%202010.htm

• On election day, there was this: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state/effect-of-tea-party-vote-in-gop-primary-874858.html

• And stood up and organized Tea Parties across Florida to blunt an effort by the EPA to raise our water rates by four fold.  http://southeastagnet.com/2010/02/16/epa-holds-public-hearing-in-tallahassee-on-new-fl-water-standards/

Contact us at legislative@fwbteaparty.com for more information!

http://www.nwfdailynews.com/opinion/tea-31816-party-different.html

It’s unfortunate that today I have to write an article countering an editorial printed in the August 11 NWF Daily News (re: “Serving a different kind of Tea).

The Daily News wrote “Consider the detour taken. Too bad.”, meaning the Fort Walton Beach Tea Party has had a shift from local to national issues, based on our Tea Party’s support of the Emerald Coast Tea Party event.

What the Daily News missed is at the heart of the Tea Party, which the national media also misses. We are a decentralized, grass roots movement, no matter how anyone else tries to portray us. If it makes sense for us to call the Niceville-Valp Tea Party, or the Emerald Coast Tea Party, or the Bay County Patriots, or the Navarre Tea Party, we pick up the phone and work together.

If our interests don’t match up, we work independently and take on the issues each group finds important. It’s how our founding fathers envisioned the role of citizens and we in the FWB Tea Party have decided to take that role seriously.

Consider our August 10, 2010 meeting. The FWB Tea Party has a stated set of principles and a focus on issues. Period. Whether they are local or not is a subject of debate.

We had former Destin Mayor Craig Barker and Captain Donnie Brown discuss their “air curtain” design, but also present the challenges, and successes, during this oil spill, of working with BP, the Federal Government, State and local government. Why is this a FWB Tea Party concern? One of our core principles is to “hold elected officials accountable”. Listening to people on the front line dealing with our government during a crisis tells us where we should contact our elected officials that certain rules and laws need to be changed.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) attended, and took a few minutes to discuss Amendment 9 on the November ballot. This amendment intended to defend Floridians against being compelled to buy insurance under Obamacare, and has been struck down on the ballot language by a Judge in Tallahassee. Rep. Gaetz shared the appeal strategy being employed by proponents of health care freedom to revive this important constitutional change. Is this a local or national issue? Since it’s our votes and our money, I’d say this is a very local issue.

Rep. Gaetz also discussed an issue near and dear to the Tea Party – transparency in government. He asked for our input and advice regarding whether to support legislation that would shift public notices – those printed at taxpayer cost in local papers – to an internet based approach saving hundreds of thousands in local taxes annually. The taxpayers of Northwest Florida functionally subsidize Freedom Communications (the parent company of the Daily News and other local payers) roughly $250,000 annually for public notice advertising. Statewide, newspaper notice costs range into the millions each year. While we wait for further details, the FWB Tea Party initially supports a move to put these notices on the internet where the majority of Americans now get their news and information.

We had a “spirited” conversation regarding the local elections – starting with the $135 million dollar, over ten years, so called “Half Cent” School Sales Tax proposal. We worked our way through the ballot, starting with local elections first, because we know that the people who can most affect our wallets are the closest to us.

Oh, and we discussed CAIR for about 30 seconds. We have as another core principle to “support and defend the Constitution”. CAIR demands that Emerald Coast Tea Party drop a speaker, and we simply point to the First Amendment. It doesn’t require a lot of conversation to understand what the First Amendment says, and that we can support any speaker we want, and we support our friends at the Emerald Coast Tea Party in their venture. By the way, CAIR was asked to speak at the event and declined.

And just for the record, in addition to our local attendees at our meeting, we had representatives of Niceville-Valp, Emerald Coast, Panhandle Patriots, Navarre Tea Party, and even Bay County Patriots.

The FWB Tea Party was the only group to go on the record at the School Board meetings opposing the $135 million Sales Tax increase. We have had representatives at most of the Board of County Commissioner meetings and budget workshops. We are organizing to fight the proposed 25% millage rate increase by the City of FWB, and we will be attending the budget workshops starting August 16th.

We have gone on record at EPA hearings about waste water requirements. Local or national? You be the judge. The EPA is national, but when our Florida water bills quadruple (that’s not hyperbole folks) you better believe that’s a very local issue all of the sudden. The FWB Tea Party organized other Tea Parties across the State of Florida, and citizens showed up by the hundreds at three separate EPA hearings in Tallahassee, Orlando and West Palm Beach to protest this EPA directive. (PDF on Waste Water Issue). Not many people are aware of this threat, but every County and Municipal government official sure is.

We have spoken about Charter Government and tax abatement issues locally. We had a direct role in the veto of Florida Senate Bill 6 over education – because it violated our principles. Local, state or national? Well it directly affected our children so I’d say that’s pretty local.

The FWB Tea Party has also hosted several very well attended and detailed candidate forums for State Representative, Sheriff, School Board and County Commissioner. You can view them at www.wcvctv.com. Why did we do this? Because we have learned one valuable lesson – who we elect matters. At EVERY level of government.

I have exchanged a series of what turned out to be fruitless emails with Mr. Ibrahim Hooper, the Director of Communications for the Council on American Islamic Relations.   If you listen to WFTW 1260 AM “The Wake Up Call” with Ken Walsh from 6 to 9AM, we have been talking about this for weeks now.

I started by asking if he had asked that had his organization asked the Emerald Coast Tea Party Patriots and the FWB Tea Party to drop Ms. Brigette Gabriel as a guest speaker at a Constitution Day Rally on August 21, 2010 from 1 to 5PM at the Emerald Coast Conference Center.   Tickets are $20 and proceeds go to the Wounded Warrior Project and the Destin Charter Fishing Fleet to assist both groups.  You can contact Geoff Ross at 850-313-1893 or purchase them at www.passionatepatriot.com Tee Shirt shop on Racetrack Road.

The facts are this – CAIR did not contact Geoff or me to cancel the speaker, they just sent the press release.  Mr. Hooper’s response to my email?

“Peace. Do you support Ms. Gabriel’s views on Islam and Muslims, such as her statement that Muslims should not be allowed to hold public office?”

I responded I would read her book and determine what she actually said.   I also asked Mr. Hooper if he believed Muslims placed Sharia Law about US Constitutional law.  As yet, that question remains puzzlingly unanswered.

After I completed her book, Because They Hate, in which she references CAIR and Mr. Hooper in particular, I asked had she factually misrepresented anything.  I still haven’t gotten a direct answer to that question.

We requested CAIR send a speaker, from the speaker’s bureau listed prominently on their website, and as yet, we have not received a response.  Interestingly, Geoff and I were interviewed earlier this week by BBC America because of their interest in this story.

The FWB Tea Party has as a core principle to support and defend the US Constitution.  This issue is simply this – no group can silence a speaker unless we as Americans sit by and let it happen.  Not this time, not this place.  While our airmen, soldiers, sailors and marines are deployed in combat, we will not sit by when a group attempts to threaten our First Amendment rights.

Our next meeting is August 10th, 7PM at the American Legion on Hollywood.  We will be discussing several pending tax increases in our community and other issues.  We might even bring this up as well! All are welcome to attend our meetings and speak out!

The TEA in FWB Tea Party stands for “Taxed Enough Already”.  Several months ago we stated that we would examine the proposed half cent School Board sales tax, and our answer now is a resounding “NO”.  We further say “NO” to the newly proposed School Board millage rate increase of 1.5 mills.

A 1/2 cent sales tax?  That sounds harmless enough – until you realize it’s a $135 million dollar tax increase to Okaloosa County.  We are aware the original proposal assumed that 40% of the tax revenues would come from tourists, but that was pre-BP.   The front page of the Sunday, July 25th, 2010 Daily News showed a stark and empty downtown Fort Walton Beach.  However, as Florida is a balanced budget state, statutes dictate that taxes will be mandated to rise if the expected sales tax revenues don’t come in.  Therefore, regardless of tourism dollars, the residents of Okaloosa County are on the hook for this $135 million dollar tax increase.

Next, despite being one of the most allegedly conservative districts in America, the School Board has been accepting Federal Stimulus dollars to the current tune of $18 million.  As a result the board has not made hard cuts, but now expect us, the taxpayers, to start paying for the Obama stimulus dollars beginning in 2011 with this proposed millage rate increase.

To put it in perspective – 1 mil on a $100,000 appraised home is a $100 increase in property taxes.   The Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners is considering a  separate millage rate increase.  The FWB City Council is considering one.  Crestview is considering one, and now the School Board is considering one.  If you live in the city limits of FWB or Crestview, you are looking at potentially $300 to $500 increased property taxes.  If you live outside the city, you are looking at potentially $200 to $400, and that’s if your home is appraised at $100,000.  If you own a more expensive home or business, you are looking at a substantially higher tax.

On page 8A of the Friday, July 23, 2010 Daily News, there was a list of Capital Outlay projects for the SB millage rate increase.  We immediately noticed the list of projects appears remarkably similar to the projects listed for the $135 million dollar sales tax increase, resolution #10-04.  We believed earlier in the year that we weren’t being told the whole truth about increased taxes when this resolution was passed, and now combined with the proposed millage rate increase, we see that our concerns were warranted.

What do we say yes to?  One of the School Board’s constant comments is that the 2002 Class Size Amendment would cost the schools districts millions.  We agree – so we support and encourage voters to vote in favor of the “Right Size” Class Size Amendment (Amendment on the November ballot.  That will go a long way towards eliminating one of the major complaints regarding the rising costs of schools.

There are currently approximately 900 teachers in Okaloosa County earning between $50,000 and $70,000 per year.  (source: http://www.thedestinlog.com/news/public-9839-county-employees.html)

Using $60,000 as a median income, a 10% reduction in pay in this group would yield annual savings of $5,400,000.  There are approximately 100 administrators earning between $90,000 and $120,000.  A 10% reduction there will be another $1,000,000.

Those of us in the private sector have laid off employees, and we have been laid off.  Difficult times require difficult choices.  Taking stimulus dollars without making cuts is an easy decision.  Raising taxes, both sales and property, are easy decisions.  Making hard cuts requires courage and leadership, and we will assist the school board in finding further cuts to be made, rather than stand by when our taxes are raised yet again by almost every municipal or county government in Okaloosa County.

Our business owners and families are having to make hard choices and hard cuts, and adding hundreds of dollars of new taxes in this economy will greatly increase the burden.  We ask that the voters contact their City, County and School Board members NOW to say “No” to new taxes, vote “No” on the $135 million dollar sales tax increase in August, and vote “Yes” on the “Right Size” amendment on the November ballot.

As the leader of the Fort Walton Beach, FL, Tea Party, I try to stake out a course that seeks to limit the size of government, cut wasteful spending and defend our freedoms.

I hear much hope in Republican circles of taking back at a minimum the House of Representatives in November, and an outside chance at the Senate. Yet, the Republican Party left me around 2005 with their focus on increased spending and expanding government, and ignoring our Constitution.

How will we know if we can trust the Republicans to do the right thing this time around? The truth is we can’t, unless we make a contract with them.

Republicans in the Florida legislature grew the size of government, funded a new taxpayer subsidized train system, and continue to accept federal stimulus dollars. How do we know this behavior will suddenly change if they take over in DC?

I have yet to see a concerted Republican effort on what they will actually do if they gain the House, so once again it’s time for the FWB Tea Party to step up and show leadership. We have to demand performance in advance or once again, it’s our fault for the condition of our great nation.

That is why I am introducing, and asking for YOUR input, on the “No Excuses Contract with America”.

If the Republicans take back the House, let’s demand, in advance of the election, they bring to the floor in the first 100 days:
• The Fair Tax. There are 62 Republican co-sponsors. Let’s see action. The bill is ready to go and has been well reviewed.
• Repeal Obamacare. You’ve said you were opposed to it, now let’s see it when you are in charge. So far, we’ve already seen the House Republicans backing away from this.
• The Wars. Our Constitution gives the power to Congress to declare War. Not “ongoing operations” or “war like authorizations”. Either put the country in a state of war or defund the wars.
• Your ideas!! What specifically do you want to see OUR House of Representatives do?
Yes, the President can veto anything the House does. Yes, the Senate may not pass anything done by the House. So what?? Let’s see the Senate vote on these items, and let the President to veto them. Let’s see the votes of our Congressmen on your issues!

The House of Representatives was designed to Represent us, the People. If you read the Federalist papers, the Senate was set up to represent State interests, not the people. Only the House was designed to represent the people – their angers, passions, hopes and dreams.

There is no filibuster in the House, no “super-majority”. If you get 218 votes, the measure passes. Period.

I don’t want to hear, “well, we are waiting to take the White House and/or Senate to get that done”. I don’t want to hear “well, we are cleaning up a mess”.

I say – “the mess exists – you ran for office – what are you going to do about it?”

This is a “No excuses contract”. If your party controls the House, you can pass whatever you want. If you have the will to do it.

Every day we wait until 2012 we have more debts, more spending, and less freedoms. And how do we know the right person is going to be elected? We don’t. How do we know who will control the Senate? We don’t. I guarantee a lot of Democrats now wish they had voted for Hillary Clinton in the primary.

What ideas do you want to contribute to this “No Excuses Contract?” If we don’t hold the new House accountable, who will? Send me ideas to legislative@fwbteaparty.com and let’s start building the FWB Tea Party “No Excuses Contract with America”.

Once completed, I will be sending to my Congressman and House Leaders to see if they really walking the walk, or are they just talking the talk?

Unit 5 Project:  Tea Party Movement

By Sarah Bristow

Kaplan University

The Tea Party Patriot Movement is a reformative social movement determined to reform government spending and taxation.  I chose this organization because I had heard of the group in the news and wondered what all they supported and did for their mission.  Their mission statement is as follows:  “The impetus for the Tea Party movement is excessive government spending and taxation. Our mission is to attract, educate, organize, and mobilize our fellow citizens to secure public policy consistent with our three core values of Fiscal Responsibility, Constitutionally Limited Government and Free Markets” (Tea Party Organization, 2010).  The core values of this movement are fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government, and free markets.  The core principles of the Tea Party movement are to support and defend the U.S. Constitution, keep taxes low, ensure responsible spending at all levels of government, demand transparency and accountability, maintain individual responsibility, and to protect and expand freedom (Tea Party Organization, 2010).  This grassroots organization is mostly made up of local tea party groups that meet up with each other for conventions and to hold the government accountable for spending and other important issues.

In Fort Walton Beach there is a local Tea Party branch.  The Chairman, Chris Saccomanno, is the founder of this branch.  Mr. Saccomanno stated that the goal of the organization is “to empower individuals to have a stronger voice in politics to support the Constitution, prevent irresponsible spending by the government, stop tax hikes, get some transparency and accountability in government, and expand freedom.” Mr. Saccomanno created the group of the organization in Fort Walton Beach in March of 2009.  When questioned how the group began, the chairman said, “I went down to the City and took out a $42 permit for a protest event and bought a $380 single day liability insurance policy.  We hosted a major rally on 4/15/09 with 800 people in attendance and we’ve met twice a month since then.” The Fort Walton Beach Tea Party group has almost 1500 on their mailing lists that are as close to the criteria of membership status that the group has.  Mr. Saccomanno declared that the group is “Highly successful for a young organization.  We have had several people take on various issues, and we are now one of the most important citizens groups in the state of Florida.  Recently, we were in contact with state legislators from across the state and the governor to discuss state legislation.  We have built a voice for people and are now trying to help them learn to use that voice for positive reform.” He believes that “elected leaders are making a much stronger effort to reach out to citizen’s groups now.  We have also allowed people to get involved in the political process more than they ever had before” because of the organizations activities.  The organization has many activities that promote their cause “protests, rallies, extensive contact with the local media (newspaper and radio, in particular).  Online activities, phone calls, petitions, and participate in local governmental meetings, such as County Commissioner meetings, City Council meetings, School Board, etc” The organization meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month where they address and organize current issues for the group. The future of the organization is “building an organization that empowers individuals and continually builds relationships with other concerned citizen groups and influence legislation.  We are also being called to provide information to elected leaders, so we are working on helping to use our community connections to help them make more informed decisions.”

Critics of the Tea Party movement, like Michael Kinsely of the Atlantic Times, feel that the organization “is not the solution to what ails America” (Kinsely, 2010).  They believe that because Tea Party participants use the word Patriot to describe themselves that the call everyone who does not support their cause unpatriotic.  Mr. Kinsley believes that they need to use the term patriot for a group’s position that is more than just demanding tax cuts.  Mr. Kinsley article appeared to be more slanderous than informative.

I learned a lot about the workings of the Tea Party Organization.  When I first started my research I thought the Tea Party Organization was all about tax cuts like Mr. Kinsely but I soon learned that they are involved in many aspects to hold our government accountable.  Mr. Kinsely appears to not have done much research on the organization and does not support his opinion.  I think the Tea Party Organization has been instrumental in the people becoming more involved in the government.  I think that in the future I would like to become active in this organization because of the important cause of holding the government responsible for their actions.  The country would be a greater nation if more people got involved in the government issues like the Patriots of the Tea Party Movement.

I was disappointed to read the editorials in the Daily News uncomplimentary of the Okaloosa Tea Parties – your ‘untangling’ and ‘bagging’ and ‘playing it safe.’  As to your confusion, a visit to www.emeraldcoastpatriots.org will straighten you out.  As to seeming not to boldly go, consider the difficulties of concerned individuals of divergent backgrounds converging to common purpose while the powers that be disparage and savage their gatherings.  Yet gather they do while determining organizational legal requirements, introducing the new candidates to cure the ills of Congressional office and daring to inform of experiences under radical Islam (Saturday, August 21^st at the Emerald Coast Conference Center).  As to your bagging, well, just shame on you, too.

President Obama calls America’s founding documents, our Constitution, “flawed.”  Whether his criticism is due to his own background, from a learned perspective progressively socialistic or because of some understanding of historical atrocities, it is not the outstanding and unique written basis of the United States that is flawed but those men charged with leading toward the Constitution’s purpose who have chosen instead their own selfish interests or agenda.

Accordingly, we of the Tea Party movement protest and seek to educate on the issues as they bear upon the Constitution, defending our freedoms and our liberties by responsible choice.  The task may be daunting but must be undertaken.  A majority of citizens are dissatisfied with the current direction of the country and the behavior and manner of operation of its government – dissembling the sovereign republic toward a world government; affronting allies and pandering to enemies; controlling business, free speech, the Internet, life, health and protection; gaming immigration and playing stimulus; losing jobs; spending into uncontrollable debt and deficit.

The hopes and expectations of all Americans have been upset with the bottle of horse liniment we have been sold.  It is time to stop swallowing it.  I have heard argument that Tea Party people don’t like socialism but hypocritically like Medicare, Social Security, police and fire protection which are socialism.  Don’t be fooled by such distraction.  While Medicare and Social Security are indeed elements of socialism, they should be gradually stopped while returning people to their own capability and responsibility.  As for group police and fire protection, that is not socialism but a proper providing for the general welfare.  Still, while I can’t fight a large fire, I have a fire extinguisher at home.  And as for the misinterpretation of separation of church and state as a need for a wall; well, even walls have windows and doors.

Socialism has been creeping upon us for over a century; now to burst upon us who have been lulled into apathy and acceptance.  Do you still believe you have made the right “choice?”  Do you not see the class warfare being waged?  Do you think about your wages and agree that “at some point you have made enough?”  Do you know when it is your “duty to die?”

If you don’t like what is happening, then join the Tea Party in your area.  Our Niceville-Valparaiso group meets the second and fourth Monday at 6PM in the Niceville City Hall.  We welcome especially those younger and unsure so that we may engage in amicable discourse truly to understand and help improve America for all.  Help us develop educated voters for August and November. Have the courage to stand up, speak out and breathe in the promise of the Declaration of Independence once again.

Submitted as a guest column submission from Joseph P. Phillip, Niceville, FL

Last November, the FWB Tea Party was a few months ahead of time by hosting a rally to protest Cap and Trade. Well it was bad news then, and it’s bad news now.

We will be building on our success in fighting the EPA overreach in our State and fighting this bill.

For instance, the President’s Budget Director, Peter Orszag, when, as director of CBO, stated under “a cap-and-trade program, firms would not ultimately bear most of the costs of the allowances but instead would pass them along to their customers in the form of higher prices. Such price increases would stem from the restriction on emissions and would occur regardless of whether the government sold emission allowances or gave them away.”

While many concerns have been expressed over this proposed redistribution of wealth scheme, I am more concerned about the so called environmental provisions in the bill.

For instance this bill calls for something called “carbon sequestration”. What is that you say?
First, the language from the bill itself says: ‘‘(2) CARBON SEQUESTRATION.—The term
8 ‘carbon sequestration’ means the act of storing carbon
9 dioxide through physical, chemical, or biological
10 processes that can prevent the carbon dioxide from
11 reaching the atmosphere.’’;

18 SEC. 1412. SPECIAL FUNDING PROGRAM FOR DEVELOP
19 MENT AND DEPLOYMENT OF CARBON CAP20
TURE, SEQUESTRATION, AND CONVERSION
21 TECHNOLOGIES.

Note the word “development” in lines 18 and 19. They are trying to create a system which does not exist, when energy sources such as nuclear and natural gas are currently proven and available.

According to Sally Benson, Professor, Department of Energy Resources Engineering, Stanford University.
“The goal of carbon sequestration is to permanently store the carbon dioxide, permanent meaning very, very long-term, geological time periods.”

In short, they propose to capture CO2 emissions and inject them back into geologic formations such as deep saline or depleted oil and gas reservoirs, as these are layers of porous rock underground that are “capped” by a layer or multiple layers of non-porous rock above them.

What remains undetermined is if this by product will leech into water supplies or be re-released into the atmosphere, thereby negating the whole argument behind the program in the first place.
On the Department of Energy website, http://www.netl.doe.gov/technologies/carbon_seq/index.html, you can find more information, but I encourage you to read closely for words like “experimental”. Note the attention paid to reassuring the public that safeguards exist. First, for safeguards I point residents of the Northwest Florida to words like “blowout preventer” a word that hardly anyone was familiar with prior to the blowup of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig.

But don’t take my word for it, let’s see why Greenpeace, yes Greenpeace, is against this program: http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/news/new-greenpeace-report-exposes

We will continue to fight this bill. We are organizing a delegation to speak to Sen. Nelson (D-FL) who has expressed concerns over other provisions within this bill.

Write your editors. Share emails. Tell others of the environmental threat contained within this bill – let’s fight this bill on the science, or lack of it.

The following letter was published in the Daily News by FWB Tea Party Patriot Jean Honeycutt on May 8, 2010.

With the current uproar over the AZ illegal alien law, we should educate ourselves about the substantial human cost to American citizens and legal immigrants. We are all aware of the tremendous economic cost these illegal aliens burden our taxpayers with, but seldom hear of the human costs.

Predators particularly prey on women and children. According to the 2006 House Committee on Homeland Security Border Report, every year an estimated 4,300 American citizens lose their lives by an illegal immigrant. These senseless deaths could have been prevented if our federal, state and local law enforcement would enforce our immigration laws and secure the border.

The Violent Crimes Institute estimated that there are 240,000 illegal immigrant sex offenders in the United States, who have had an average of four victims each. These included serial rapes, sexual homicides and child molestation.

These are victims that our Congress has failed to protect and accepts as collateral damage. The Department of Homeland Security recently revealed the arrest of over 5000 illegal immigrants who had molested thousands of children, the youngest of which was three years old. How many more thousand of children will be victimized until we speak up for them?. How many more citizens will lose their lives to illegal aliens?.

We cannot ignore the human costs to American citizens or accept it as collateral damage. It is time for Congress to listen to their constituents to secure the border and to NOT give anyone that is here illegally ANY TYPE OF AMNESTY.