Making a Line in the Sand

I just got back from the Tea Party counter-protest to the SEIU (Service Employee International Union) rally at the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta this past afternoon (Wednesday February 23, 2011) and wanted to give a short report on the 'festivities.'

We got to Atlanta in plenty of time to see small groups of red and blue-shirted people making their way to the state capitol. As it turned out these people were various union members who had been bussed in from other states to take part in this rally.

The group that I was to meet up with, Restore the Constitution--III percenters, were supposed to assemble in front of Trinity United Methodist Church just down the street from the capitol. As I had thought (and planned for) to bring the usual 'accouterments' to this rally I had come prepared. The state of Georgia's laws are a bit different than NC's and a citizen is legally allowed to carry 'accouterments' (firearms) to political protests.

After waiting at the assembly point for a couple of minutes for the rest of the RTC'ers to show up I was approached by a Georgia State Trooper and we had a friendly and courteous conversation about the carrying of certain 'accouterments' close to the state capitol. I agreed with his (Trooper Ogle’s) rationale and decided for the time being to return the 'accouterments' to my vehicle for safe keeping. Later on I retrieved my 'accouterments' from my vehicle and carried them openly on the streets of Atlanta a couple of blocks away from the capitol at a smaller protest by RTC’ers in defense of our Constitution. This smaller protest was successful, although we were watched closely (observe and report) by Fulton County Deputies and Atlanta Police from across the street. Several passers-by came up to us and thanked us for standing up for the Constitution and our inalienable rights.

The several Tea Parties of Atlanta (South Atlanta Tea Party being one of them) met on a corner across from the state capitol. There were approximately 70 – 100 freedom-minded men and women, many of whom had fashioned innovative and colorful signs with pointed messages supporting the governor of Wisconsin and condemning unions for their greediness.

Sad to say that the anti-freedom forces numbered approximately 250 people, had professionally made signs, were well organized, and had been taught their ‘lines’ by community organizers quite well. It would seem from their behavior that they are determined to bring down the republic by any means necessary.

Despite this, the Tea Parties, the 9-12 groups, and the RTC’ers made up in enthusiasm what we lacked in numbers. I was proud to be a part of this group standing up for our freedoms and the republic in which we live. What I re-learned from the experience was that it is important to draw a ‘line in the sand’ and defend it or else it is all over with us as “these United States of America.”
Cross-posted at: https://www.teapartypatriots.org/

Choose Wisely

[This column is in response to a story which ran recently (Jan.29, 2011) in the Tuckaseegee Reader (www.tuckreader.com), “Asheville political, religious leaders rally for sexual equality”]

Oh what a perfect world it would be if only we were all the same and we were all ‘equal.’ I don't think so. Neither should you.
Totally homogeneous societies tend to become closed. Such closed societies tend to become closed systems. Closed systems tend to self-destruct—usually violently.
The opposite of such closed systems are systems that or so 'open' that they fly apart, also usually violently--such as the way our society seems to be self-destructing from within.
The middle road; a society that encourages some homogenization through a 'melting pot' (such as the way that we used to be before ‘social correctness’), establishes lofty national ideals, and also encourages personal freedom and responsibility, more efficient and smaller, constitutional-based government, and a respect for, and following of the socio-political agreements that our society is founded upon (Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and the Bill of Rights) is much more stable and just, and survives for a much longer period of history.
Yet each generation gets to choose whether it prefers freedom and the rule of law, a moderate amount of homogenization and reasonable social norms; or, safety and 'celebrating our diversity', no social norms, and eventually totalitarianism.
Do you really believe that socially, politically, economically, and historically that there is such a thing as a “free lunch?” Choose wisely, now.

Green Energy Park Produces Private-Sector Jobs

I thoroughly agree that it is past time to “wake up, get Jackson County moving.” For too long we have relied upon the national and state governments to provide leadership and direction for us in Jackson County and Western North Carolina. It is past time that we came together and charted our own economic future. One of the leaders in this economic renaissance is Timm Muth, the Director of Jackson County’s Green Energy Park (JCGEP).
Commissioners, I appreciate your taking a look at various county departments for efficiency, effectiveness, and fiscal responsibility. It is important for our county representatives to promote open, honest, accountable, and fiscally responsible government at all levels. Otherwise, we might as well hold out a tin cup to Washington D.C. and Raleigh and be grateful for the pennies that we do get back from the dollars that we send them.
Muth appeared before you on January 3 of this year asking for a replacement to his departing assistant. You asked him some pointed questions and made the excellent suggestion that he produce a cost-benefit analysis study so as to better show you how the JCGEP benefits all of Jackson County.
I went to the JCGEP a few days before your January 18 meeting and had Muth show me what he has done, what he is doing, and what he wants to do with his operation. Frankly gentlemen, the benefits of the JCGEP for the county are impressive. Capturing methane gas from the old Dillsboro landfill and using it to create viable, tax-paying, private-sector jobs is no small feat.
According to a study just recently released by the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (www.p2pays.org/ref/53.52107.pdf) there are currently over 15,000 private sector jobs that have been created to recycle valuable materials here in North Carolina. These private sector jobs, which have been promoted by operations such as the JCGEP, have increased by 4.8% since 2008. The total annual payroll for these recycling jobs in North Carolina is $395 million. There are numerous other benefits created from these public-private partnerships.
What Muth has done at the JCGEP not only is currently paying economic dividends for the investment that our county is contributing, it also has the strong probability of promoting many more private-sector jobs, tourism dollars, and tax monies to return to the citizens of Jackson County.
In the coming weeks and months we’ll be talking more about the JCGEP and the unique, positive benefits that it creates for Jackson County. In the mean time I would urge all of you commissioners to call Timm Muth, invest a little of your time going to the JCGEP, and find out the many positive benefits generated there. Remember gentlemen that these benefits that you will see are not in the future, but they are occurring right here and now in Jackson County.

Right Thing to Do

Whether it be a deficit or a debt, no amount of money owed a creditor is a good thing; not on the federal, state, or local level. Unfortunately for too long it has been much too easy for us to borrow when we should have saved instead. The fiscal conservatives have been ‘there’ for many years. Mores the pity that they have been ignored by both parties, the bureaucrats (un-elected office holders) who manage the government on a day-to-day basis, and the vast majority of the American people who are too busy watching “Dancing with the Stars.” Consequently the ‘piper’ will come to collect his due, soon.

Unlike “Astroturf,” which is essentially a tool of public relations/publicity campaigns, authentic grass roots movements don’t arise, grow, and become powerful overnight. This is especially true when apathy in participation in government has been overwhelming for so long.
How could a county manager be able to get away with the irregularities and abuse that he has for so long? How could a board of commissioners be able to spend our county into backbreaking debt otherwise?
Ask yourself, “when have I gone to, sat and listened, and sometimes used the public comment period (our First Amendment rights!) at a county commissioners meeting? Did I want something from the commissioners or did I go because it was the right thing to do? Have I participated in a meaningful way?”
Previously on the federal level, any surpluses were merely on paper and only affected the deficit, not the growing debt. Americans of all stripes are only just waking up to the fact that the deficit and the debt (two different wolves) have been enormously increased by unscrupulous elected and un-elected office holders who have not been following the Constitution. For this citizen, it makes me wonder if anybody else has read (and understands) the socio-political contract between us and our government? And do they care?
But take heart; for the truly concerned individuals lamenting the pending demise of our republic there’s always as a last resort, Locke’s “appeal to Heaven” to achieve a restoration of the founder’s vision of what we still could be.

Jackson Tsunami

Tuesday’s election was obviously a huge socio-political Tsunami wave all over the country. Here in Jackson County a few ignorant folks attempted to claim that the routed commissioners were defeated by a small group of “gadflies” and consequently, because of the outspokenness of this “small group” the voters followed zombie-like in lock-step behind these rabble-rousers. Reality couldn’t be further from the truth.
The people of Jackson County are (and have been) angry at our so-called leaders for some time regarding their spendthrift policies and for how they have allowed the manager to literally go out of control and in some ways create his own little fiefdom of power while the chair attempted to create for himself a cult of personality hobnobbing with bigwigs while vacationing in Raleigh and Washington D.C. on the citizens’ hard earned dollars.
If the Tea Party Patriots of Jackson County (and other unaffiliated voters) hold the in-coming commissioners’ feet to the fire on the core issues of smaller, more efficient government, lower taxes, and less intrusion into people’s lives than maybe the culture of quid pro quo can at least be weakened substantially in the coming months.
The bottom line is that we, the citizens demand that our elected and unelected office holders are completely open, honest, and accountable in their performing of the public’s business and that they return to the constitutional rule of law before the inevitable conflagration occurs in our country.
No one who hasn’t been attending commissioners meetings, doing the basic investigations on issues (many of them shady), and speaking out in the public forum (not just the occasional letter to the editor or a bellicose comment on an Internet forum) can have a clue about what has happened in politics here in Jackson County in 2010. Armed with this basic ignorance and blasé ‘know-it-all’ attitude they certainly won’t be able to influence what may happen in Jackson County in the future also.

"National Lampoon" Vacation

Unlike some folks I don’t go hollering and crying to anybody who will listen when somebody points out some of my short comings. Except for perhaps God, the preacher, his significant other, and the congregation of the Church that the chairman attends regularly, no one that I know of cares who may or may not have stayed with him in room # 289 on the nights of March six through nine of this year at the Omni Shoreham Hotel and Resort in Washington D.C. All I know is that the hotel bill says the room was billed for double occupancy (documented by public records request) and I got stuck paying for it. What we, the citizens of Jackson County do care about is the wasteful, frivolous manner in which the chairman of the Jackson County Commissioners has spritzed away our money and made us a laughing stock in all the other nearby counties. Mr. Chair, you can make a reasonable argument in normal financial times that going on junkets for professional development here in the state of North Carolina is an acceptable use of the taxpayer’s money. But these are not normal times and this trip was seemingly all about gallivanting all over Washington D.C. and hobnobbing with bigwigs in our nation’s capital. By the way, I wanted to thank the person or persons involved for their release of information to another local media outlet. It seems that the chairman spent even more money than I thought. According to records that were released, in addition to what the Patriot found, the chairman spent $490.00 for conference registration and $30.00 for a “Congressional Breakfast” also. His seeming vacation in Washington D.C. cost the taxpayers of Jackson County a total of at least $2,267 dollars! I’ll bet that there are at least a dozen families here in Jackson County that could have used that money to help heat their homes this winter—but the chairman already burned it up in Washington.

As was claimed by one individual, my assumptions are not false or unfounded. They are not even assumptions. The hard evidence that has been obtained through public records requests makes the conclusions that a reasonable person would conclude clear and rational. The bottom line is that the N.C. Association of County Commissioners would not reimburse the chairman to go to Washington D.C. for the National Association of County Commissioners meeting so he evidently decided to go on his own (regardless of whether the county manager budgeted it—he’ll budget anything that the chairman will tell him to) and hit the taxpayers of Jackson County for the bill on his D.C. “National Lampoon” Vacation. Representatives from only 44 (probably the richest 44 counties) of North Carolina’s 100 counties went to the same conference on the taxpayer’s dollar. Shame on them and shame on the chairman. We, the citizens of Jackson County, want our money reimbursed and our seat that the chairman is sitting in back.

Paid Vacation

Mr. Chair, let’s talk about the facts. On Saturday 6 March 2010 you left Jackson County and drove to Washington D.C. where you checked into the Omni Shoreham Hotel. You stayed four nights. You left Washington D.C. Wednesday 10 March 2010 and arrived back in Jackson County that evening.
The Jackson County Travel Authorization and Reimbursement Form shows that you claimed $522.17 for travel by private automobile and $154.00 for meals—for a total of $676.17. County Manager Kenneth Westmoreland signed for the expense reimbursement 15 March. I have a copy of the county check endorsed by you and deposited to the Wachovia bank. It is stamped Friday 2 April 2010 by Teller #70.
I have a copy of the bill from the Omni Shoreham Hotel for four night’s double occupancy as signed by you Mr. Chair and charged to a Visa credit card for a total of $1,050.92. My first generation copy of the original in Finance shows that it was time/date stamped “Apr 09, 2010”. Above the “total due” line a figure has been ‘whited’ out. And below the total due line are the figures $0.00. I have a copy of the county check reimbursing the credit card company in Delaware for $1,070.00. It is signed by Kenneth L. Westmoreland and countersigned by Darlene Fox.
I have a copy of an email from the Communications Director of the N.C. Association of County Commissioners, a 501-C4 advocacy group, with the Board of Directors Expense Narrative and Reimbursement Form. Upon further investigation, Todd McGee, Communications Director of the N.C. Association of County Commissioners stated that “no member of the executive board was authorized to travel to Washington D.C. on these dates for any reason.” I also have records of other junkets that you have made.
Mr. Chair, we have a congressman who represents the 11th District in Washington D.C. We also have two U.S. Senators who represent us there. We have a state senator and a state representative that represent us in Raleigh. You represent us here in Jackson County. Why are we, the taxpayers paying for what appears to be a five day vacation for you, and whoever was staying with you those four nights at a luxury hotel and resort in Washington D.C.?