This morning, my husband and I were perusing the newspaper over our usual cup of coffee – I was reading the Arkansas section and he was glancing through the National portion.  I tend to scan the obituaries first (I know, I have become my grandmother) and Clay typically hits the sideline with all the short articles of the goings on around the world.  It didn’t take long for him to sigh in frustration over what he was reading, so of course, I had to take a look over his shoulder.

The article told the unfortunate tale of a short-sighted 20 year old hunter who couldn’t restrain himself from bragging about his latest “kills” which included 1 too many deer and 3 too many geese.  Not only did he boast about his hunting skills, but he posted pictures of his trophies, that were noticed by law abiding Facebook “friends”, who then notified the authorities.

Immediately, I think what an idiot!  Kind of reminds me of the stupid criminal videos you see every once in a while on TV.  You know what I am talking about, the goof ball who decides to rob a convenient store of their lottery tickets while wearing his name tag from work proudly displayed on his uniform.  Not that I am heralding criminal behavior, but it just goes to show you how stupid people can be….not just for breaking the law, but for doing it so poorly!  (tongue in cheek of course)

The point of this is to remind people that while we all enjoy Facebook for a variety of reasons, it isn’t necessary to reveal to the World Wide Web every single thing you are doing!  Just like it wasn’t terribly brilliant to boast about illegal hunting practices with picture evidence, it wouldn’t make sense to post on Facebook your holiday plans and where all you will be travelling.  For obvious reasons, that would only let your “friends” know exactly how much time they have to ransack your house and play reverse-Santa.  Besides, do you REALLY think that everyone cares about how you spend every single moment of every day?  Let’s try and keep our postings to informative tidbits, interesting historical facts or even uplifting quotes from Gandhi or Mother Teresa.

Oh, and by the way….my husband was most frustrated about the hunter getting in trouble for his over the limit Geese picture.  Why? Well, do the math.  There were 3 friends in the photo and 12 Canada geese pictures with them, and the limit was 3 geese per person.  Immediately, one might think each hunter shot one extra than they were supposed to.  But wait, who took the picture?  Looks like the braggadocios Facebook hunter might get out of that one.

This time of year brings an annual tradition in Wisconsin: deer hunting season.  People are out in full force in their blaze orange hunting a trophy buck they can display above their fireplace.  Far too often people forget about the other opportunity for hunting – hunting for spring elections.

With little interest in spring elections there is prime opportunity to get on the ballot and begin at the local level to make change.  On Tuesday, November 23rd, County Clerks throughout the state are required to post or publish a public notice of what elections will be on the April 5, 2011 ballot.  Visit Wisconsin Government Accountability Board’s County Clerk Directory to find the contact information of the clerk in your county.  Remember the filing deadline for the Spring 2011 election is Tuesday, January 4, 2011.

Let’s make this hunting season a success in all areas of Wisconsin.

I visited a close friend last weekend and sat next to a Chicago native on my flight back into Kansas City.  A sweet older gentleman, he asked, “What’s it like living in Kansas?”  I answered that it’s great if you like small towns, and that while I know it lacks the mountains of Colorado and the beaches of California, I have never wanted to live anywhere else.  Because the best people in the world live here in “flyover country.”

The phrase, “flyover country” was of course coined by a “coaster” who can’t imagine why anyone would choose a life of wheatfields and combines.  But you know, every big movement got its start here, in flyover country.

The abolition movement.  Women’s right to vote.  Prohibition.  Populism.  And more recently, the New Leaders Project.

Over at the Washington Times, there’s a great editorial written about the movement by local, area grass roots tea party leaders to identify new candidates for local office- everything from city council and school board to county commission and state legislator.  At dinner with an admittedly liberal friend Monday night, I told her about this new initiative that we were partnering with local leaders on, and she looked at me with eyes wide and said, “You’re training an army.”

Yep.  That’s the plan.

An army of solid, strong conservative leaders who care about their communities, their state and their nation; who understand the constitution and value it still today.  These new candidates, identified by the local tea party leader and backed by the members of those groups, will not only work to return our government to its proper size and scope, but also will be held accountable, by those very tea party activists who worked to identify them in the first place.  As the editorial states, “Efforts like those of American Majority, local Tea Party campaigns and citizen-led ballot initiatives are what’s needed to limit government power, town by town and state by state.”

It’s a novel idea- and it’s one that could change the nation.  And where did it begin?  As the Washington Times points out, in the heartland.  That’s right- here in flyover country.

Amidst the analyses, opinions, and Monday-morning-quarterbacking post 2010 campaign, the one fact that stands out is that the grassroots conservative movement – i.e. Tea Party organizations – had a profound effect on this election. Helping to frame the debate on issues regarding the national debt and government expansion; increasing voter turnout in targeted races; and holding incumbents across party lines accountable to the point where many lost their primaries to new challengers are just a few examples. One of the most bizarre, and yet prophetic occurrences, was when establishment figure Nancy Pelosi openly said that she “shares some of the views of the Tea Partiers” in an attempt to identify with the upstart movement.

Now that the votes have been cast and newly elected members are making their way to our nation’s capital – and by the way, one of their first items addressed was banning earmarks, thank you Tea Party – many conservative groups across the country are trying to determine their next step. Two immediate items that would keep the momentum and further conservative objectives are to focus on accountability and get involved in local 2011 elections.

One message received loud-and-clear is that no one is above answering to voters back home; the distaste with business as usual caused incumbent politicians, including a few senators, to lose primary races and be removed from politics completely. Now that we have a new crop of elected officials, it is essential that they understand they will be monitored, closely observed, and held accountable to the people who put them in office. Tea Parties need to maintain their vigilance in keeping an eye on legislation, coordinating with members to reach out to politicians either in support or opposition to their votes, and tracking the issues relevant to constituents back home.

In addition to preserving oversight, upcoming local elections are a good vehicle for conservative groups to get involved with and make a difference. School boards, city councils, and county offices are slated for off-year elections; this is where a great deal of government and emanates from and often people in these positions move on to higher offices. Tea Parties need to have a say in these races and get behind conservative candidates that best represent their point of view: less government, lower taxes, and local control. An organized and disciplined organization that has an effect in 2011 races will be primed and ready to go as we roll into 2012 when much more is at stake.

Many underestimated the Tea Party movement, laughed it off as an Astroturf group that need not be taken seriously; what happened this past first Tuesday in November proves these people greatly in error and shows how this was truly a force to reckon with. Now that this election has passed, the momentum must be kept up and the fire-in-the-belly needs to be maintained. Holding elected officials accountable and being active in local elections is an effective way to accomplish this and keep the conservative movement strong and moving forward.

On Wednesday, John Pistole, head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) defended recent moves by the agency to conduct more invasive security screenings at our nation’s airports.  In particular he defended the controversial full-body scanners that can search for items under passengers’ clothing and the more-aggressive pat-downs that involve the touching of genitalia of passengers who opt-out of the full-body scans.

The debate has stimulated an age-old discussion on the tensions between liberty and security, as these two competing editorials indicate.  Other rights have also come into focus, such as whether First Amendment religious rights trump these new TSA procedures or whether the procedures constitute a violation of Fourth Amendment search and seizure protections.

As important as these moral, legal and philosophical questions are, what is sometimes lost in this furor is that there are practical alternatives to current practices.  The TSA would like you to think that the only alternative is to drive, or take trains or busses.  However, as Rep. John Mica (R-FL), the likely next Chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, pointed out today, airports can opt-out of using TSA for airport screening.  And they should.

Since the TSA was founded in 2001, the agency has grown to over 56,000 employees with an annual budget of over $8 billion.  Approximately 71% of that funding goes directly to aviation security at over 450 U.S. airports.  One of the biggest complaints has been that the TSA engages in security theater rather than providing legitimate security.  But the recent encroachment on civil liberties, religious beliefs and violation of search and seizure provisions has caused many to call for the replacement of TSA.

As of 2003, airports have been under no legal obligation to contract with TSA.  Now, due to an outcry by the public, it seems airports are weighing their options.  Just today, it was announced that Orlando’s Sanford International Airport is considering contracting with a private firm.  Macon City Councilor and the Senior Editor at RedState.com has called for replacing TSA at the Georgia city’s airport.

In 2006, the Heritage Foundation encouraged policy makers to rethink airport security.  Among their recommendations is that the TSA “get out of the screening business” instead certifying private security companies.  Airlines and airports already have the monetary incentive to provide a safe travel experience for passengers as Art Carden of Forbes argues.  In addition, security companies who are forced to compete for lucrative contracts would seek to employ the best possible personnel, while developing new technology that protects that public and preserves their rights.

Some on the left have already started to push back on calls for airport screening privatization, pointing to failures by private firms before 9/11.  Yet, in this post-9/11 world, can we really do any worse than TSA perceptions of security, i.e. security theater, and the systematic treatment of all U.S. citizens as criminals?  No.  Therefore, we must seek reasonable alternatives.   The most viable is for airports across the country to opt-out of the TSA and replace them with privately incentivized firms who are carefully and consistently evaluated.

I have no idea the political ideology of this group, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families but this study is sure bothersome Arkansas Schools Stockpiling Millions Intended for Poor Students considering other studies in recent days. Particularly that Arkansas children rank third in the nation with 26.9 percent living in poverty in 2009, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. The percentage of Arkansas children living in poverty has risen steadily since 2006, when it was 23.8 percent.

Also just yesterday it was reported that “between 2007 and 2009, Arkansas had a higher percentage of households without consistent, dependable access to food than any other state in the nation, according to a report released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.”

Looks like we might need to get some grassroots researcher going on what just the heck is happening here.

On the heels of an historic mid-term election, and amid speculation about the future of the Tea Party movement, American Majority along with local Tea Party leaders from across the nation, announced today the launch of The New Leaders Project and the drive to identify 10,000 new, credible candidates in advance of the 2011 and 2012 elections.

American Majority believes that this project, when combined with policy education and grassroots infrastructure development, is the surest way to sustain Tea Party momentum across the nation.

This first of its kind national effort will seek to have 1,000 local Tea Party leaders sign onto The New Leaders Project, committing themselves and their groups to identifying 10 new leaders in their local community to run primarily for state or local office in 2012.  Representatives from Texas, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Colorado, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Florida, Virginia, Arkansas, and Ohio on hand at a press conference this morning to be the first signers of The New Leaders Pledge.

The groups will have from January 2011 until the candidate-filing deadline in their respective states and communities to identify these candidates.  The program will help community leaders identify quality candidates while fostering a new era of accountability between voters and elected officials.

To support the Tea Party organizers, American Majority will offer its proven campaign and candidate training to the new leaders. The New Leaders Project can be found on www.newleadersproject.org.

Since 2008, American Majority has been identifying and training thousands of candidates and local activists in more than 40 states in an effort to build a farm team of conservative leaders for the 21^st Century.  With this new initiative, American Majority, along with local groups, will keep the emphasis of what has become one of the most potent grassroots political forces in American history where it belongs – at the local level.

As I stated on Friday in the post “Change or Argument” Senator Elect John Boozman did exactly what Arkansans hired him to do~ Read the bill and stand with his constituents.
Today Tolbert Report reported Boozman said :
“I want to be part of the solution to put our fiscal house back in order and that requires controlling government spending. After reviewing the Senate earmark proposals, the first step to deliver what Americans have asked for is to abstain from this spending. While not all earmarks are bad, it is clear that the system is broken and in need of reform. Therefore, I believe a moratorium on all earmarks is the best way to show that Washington is ready to make difficult spending decisions,” Boozman said.

Kudos to Mr. Boozman taking this first step in bringing about limited government. One small step for Boozman one giant leap for fiscal responsibility.

Every elected official, from school board member to state legislator to the President of the United States plays a vital role in shaping the policies and direction of our communities, states, and nation. These offices deserve men and women who are grounded in the principles of liberty and individual freedom. American Majority’s political training is designed to enhance your campaign effort through targeted education and resources.

American Majority Kansas and Our Manhattan are hosting a “Running for Office 101” training on Saturday, December 4^th from 9:15am to 1:00pm for prospective local candidates and interested citizens.  The training will be held at the Manhattan Public Library at 629 Poyntz Avenue in Manhattan.

Regardless of campaign experience, American Majority’s “Running for Office 101” Program makes running for office easier! American Majority Candidate Training Seminars are designed specifically to educate candidates on every level how to run effective and victorious campaigns and prepare them to become successful elected officials.

Topics to be covered include:

• The Campaign Plan: Strategy, Timeline, Volunteers and Votes
• Microtargeting Your Precinct: Analyzing and Understanding Your District
• Patriot 2.0: Campaigning in the Facebook and Twitter Age

Upon completion of this political training seminar, candidates will receive continuing education materials, access to podcasts and other presentations, communications curriculum, and suggestions to help them utilize think-tank resources.  Candidates will also have the opportunity to interact with other liberty-minded candidates and will receive a complimentary guidebook full of material to further assist in their campaigns.

Candidates are encouraged to bring their campaign staff or volunteers.  The training is free with pre-registration.  Please pre-register by filling out the form below or by emailing Beka@AmericanMajority.org.  Space is limited.

Political Training Registration

If you have any questions, please contact Beka Romm at Beka@americanmajority.org or call 913-940-7369.

American Majority is a non-profit and non-partisan organization whose mission is to train and equip a national network of leaders committed to individual freedom through limited government and the free market.

*Lectures are subject to change.

We have now had 10 days to reflect on Election Day results and an agreement can certainly be reached:  conservatives running for office throughout the country, particularly in the Midwest, did very well.   The candidates, staff and volunteers all deserve a pat on the back for a job well done.

However, to get caught up in the moment for more than a brief period of time, which has now since past, is to ignore the political realities on the ground.  As Peggy Noonan mentions in her piece in the Wall Street Journal today, conservatives didn’t win on election night because the people had fallen in love with their ideas and solutions.  Instead it was a reflection of what voters didn’t want, a continuation of a liberal agenda, where more government and spending seemed to be the answer to every problem we faced.

Yes, conservatives running for office at every level, shared similar principles they articulated on the campaign trail:  lower taxes, reducing our debt and limiting the government’s control over our everyday lives.  However, the weeks and months ahead will be critical, as conservatives, who are now in charge in Congress and throughout our state capitols, will need to implement these broadly agreed upon principles into action-oriented legislative measures.

We can all agree that those in the center of the political spectrum, as they always are, were the decisive factors in this year’s races.  Yet, the key to making conservative’s “temporary” victory an ultimate success and getting those in the center firmly behind conservative solutions is through the art of persuasion, not compromise.   As Noonan points out, “But to win and hold the center you have to make your case, you have to show you’re philosophically serious, you have to show your logic, and connect it to a philosophy. You don’t sit around saying, “I like centrists so I compromise,” you say, “Here’s what we believe, here’s how we think and why.”

As we move into the next legislative cycle and calendar year throughout this country, conservatives need to step it up a notch.  They need to get past the campaign mode and into the legislative mode.   The American people are looking for leadership, they are looking for real solutions and if they don’t like what they see and hear, well, we know what happens next.

My colleagues have posted recently about the importance of the upcoming city council and school board elections; here in Kansas, we’ll be voting on those local individuals representing us in April and now is the time to start thinking about solid, conservative candidates who can carry the people’s voices.

Changing the world starts in our own backyard, and I firmly believe that one of the most important things that you can do tackle your own backyard.  To understand the issues that you’re facing, what your city council, school board, or county commission is doing can take a lot of time to research though.  Often the news media fails to cover their actions in any real depth, and that can leave a true information void that damages our ability to hold our elected representatives accountable, whether for a job well done, or for a vote cast poorly.

Here in Kansas, though, we have a new, unique tool to help us.  We always say at American Majority that we give away so much because we believe that knowledge is power, and we want to take the power out of the hands of the elite, the bureaucracy, and place it in the hands of the people.   A great partner in this effort is the Kansas Policy Institute, which is daily conducting research and monitoring issues within our state.  And this week, they’re giving all of us an entirely new, free tool to help us hold government accountable.

It’s called KansasOpenGov.org and on the site, you can easily find such information as the state checkbook, school districts revenue and spending per pupil (including a comparison tool, where you can see how your district ranks against others in the state), state pay and benefits for employees, state union and non-union employee contracts, even detailed property tax information listed by county, so you can see exactly what your area looks like against other like areas in the state.

What’s the value of all this?  If knowledge is power, then easily-obtained knowledge is worth gold.  In my time at American Majority, I have spent countless hours searching for information which was previously very difficult to find, compile and understand- now, I can easily and quickly access it online, see it broken down and analyzed for me as well as have access to the raw data.

Check it out.  Know what’s happening in your backyard.  And let’s get actively involved in changing the game in our own communities- whether it’s holding your school board accountable for their spending, standing up to a county commission that wants to increase your taxes, or stepping up to put your name on the ballot for city council or school board.  Ronald Reagan once said that all great change in America begins at the dinner table.  He was right.  And today, all great change begins in our own backyard.

As my colleague Matt Batzel has commented, with the most historic election in a generation behind us, the electoral heavy lifting has only just begun. Tea Party folks took to the streets and then to the polls to rightly protest our egregious out-of-control government in Washington. But that fervor needn’t end with Washington.

As American Majority has reported in activist training events across the country, nearly 50% of all government spending occurs at the state and local level. But whereas much of state spending comes under a degree of voter purview, local magistrates from school boards to city councils to county commissioners spend with near-impunity. And in the case of most school districts, when the occasion raises the ire of local voters, an act of God is necessary to change things…that is, until now.

In nearly every state, school board and city council seats will be up for election in the coming months (stay tuned for a chart on those dates). And with 2012 still a marathon away, it behooves us as Tea Partiers to take notice and apply that fervor in our back yards. So much so that headlines ought to read in the near future “Tea Party Turns Local”.

Here’s food for thought. In Oklahoma, there are 527 superintendents drawing exorbitant salaries, oftentimes in the six-figures. And then there are assistant supers, directors, principals, assistant principals, counselors, secretaries…oh, and then teachers. Yet the progressive education establishment is crying for hundreds of millions more in taxpayers dollars, naturally “for the children.”

It’s gotten so bad, even the mainstream media is crying foul. Question is, how are the bureaucrats blowing money in your state?

Our nation was founded by ordinary citizen activists desiring a government that was accountable to the people. Today, ordinary citizens across our nation are tired of the status quo and ready to engage for the betterment of their communities. American Majority’s political training addresses these passions by providing education and resources to help you meet your goals.

American Majority is pleased to announce an Activist Training will be conducted on Monday, January 10th to provide citizens with the tools necessary to become effective activists.

The political training will take place at 300 West Main Street in Cabot, beginning at 6:00pm. Registration opens at 5:30pm. The cost is $5 if you pre-register online by February 7th. Space is limited. Pre-registration is strongly encouraged.

*Topics to be covered during the training include:
The System (an in-depth look at the system we’re in, how we got there, and what we can do about it)
Grassroots Action (ideas and practical steps to engage our communities and organize a coalition of volunteers, using the Freedom of Information Act)
Precinct Power (changing your community one precinct at a time with specific micro-targeting and focused action)

Full training materials, samples and supplements will be provided to help you apply what you learn to your organization, candidate, cause or community.

Political Training Registration

If you have any questions or would like additional information, contact Kerry Baldwin at Kerry@AmericanMajority.org or Laurie Masterson at Laurie@AmericanMajority.org
or call 501-801-1030

American Majority is a non-profit and non-partisan political training organization whose mission is to train and equip a national network of leaders committed to individual freedom through limited government and the free market.

* Topics are subject to change.

Conservatives picked up all 7 contested state Senate races and 16 new House seats in last week’s election.

The Arkansas Republican Party now holds 45 State House seats, 15 Senate Seats, 3 State Constitutional Offices, 1 U.S. Senate seat and 3 U.S. Congressional seats; an historic high for the chronically entrenched Democratic state of Arkansas.

There were 44 new faces that reported to Little Rock on Friday, the largest freshman class since 1999. From the looks of the social media updates all of them were raring to go, looking forward to working their new jobs.

Republicans in Arkansas have control of the Tax & Revenue Committee and the Transportation Committee. On Tax and Revenue there are 12 of 20 in the House and 4 of 8 in the Senate giving the GOP all-important veto power. Transportation Committee Republicans picked up 11 members of the 20 and 5 of 8 members in the Senate.

The question that should prevail in the minds of all those that consider this a huge victory: So What NOW?  From where I sit there’s but one answer. And that is simple: We stay as engaged in the process as we were during the election. If all we were about is just getting “our guy” in the seat, then we haven’t accomplished what we came to do, and that is keep our elected officials accountable to limited government, fiscal responsibility and free markets.

We need an effective strategy to come alongside those men and women we’ve said we trust to go to Little Rock, make the necessary changes to ensure honor, integrity and reason prevail — and then be vigilant gatekeepers.

First and foremost, citizens must actually connect with those we just charged with properly governing us. Edmond Burke said, “Those who have been once intoxicated with power and have derived any kind of emolument from it can never willingly abandon it.”  It’s the responsibility of the governed to keep those governing in check. To that end we have an obligation to meet with, and hold accountable, those who’ve been elected.

I encourage each of you to begin to make contact with your officials on every level starting with School Boards all the way to our U.S. Senators. Let them know that you are a constituent and that you will be watching and engaging in the political trenches. You will not fall asleep again, nor be uninformed any longer, and that if there is anything you can do to help them be better a legislator they should contact you.

Even the elected with whom we disagree on policy need us to come alongside them when we can agree and help them in every way possible to govern well. Those we elected to our political fancy need to know that they are on notice, as well, and that just because they got our vote this time doesn’t necessarily  mean they have carte blanche. We WILL be there, making sure they stay true to their words and promises.

One way to do this is for concerned citizens to take a look at these committees formed last week choose a point of interest and find others with the same interest.  Make a calendar of committee meetings and take turns attending, then research the topics and become the experts in that area.

Secondly we need to engage on the local levels, making sure we have representation at each public meeting i.e. School Board, City Council and Quorum Court Meetings. If we can, get an accounting of these via a blog, web site or letters to the editors informing the general public of what is happening then, when 2012 rolls around, we will have no trouble getting our conservative message together and across to each other. We will have vital facts and information already cumulated.

Thirdly we must begin to search for new potential representatives, focusing first on the 2011 School Board elections across Arkansas. We have 239 school districts, most of which are severely in debt. We need to start building an infrastructure of conservative leaders from the local level up. Grooming candidates to run for higher offices as they build their resumes — giving Arkansans a record they can clearly distinguish.

As you can see the words of Wendell Phillips never have rung more true. “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” The mindset of every TEA Partier and Freedom Warrior should be, “I have not yet begun to fight!”

Stay informed, engaged and empowered!

Just FYI~ Seventy five percent of the candidates that American Majority Arkansas established relationships with  across our state were elected Nov 2^nd and are now in a position to affectively  govern their constituents.