Tea Party Seeks To Save Swindled Vet’s Home — The Independence Hall Tea Party Association has come to bat for Ray White, the 88-year-old World War II Army Air Corps combat veteran and South Philly resident who was swindled out of his home and possessions a few weeks ago.
He is now in a rehabilitation facility recovering from a broken hip and is looking forward to getting out, said Teri Adams of the Association.
“Because he has no housing at this time, we have been working with the VA and several Center City real estate agents to find him affordable housing,” said Ms. Adams.
She says that the total dollar value of what White has lost is $383,000.
“We have reached out to City Councilman Mark Squilla regarding whether Ray could reclaim his home. The Councilman’s staff has researched this and found a way that will allow Ray to appeal and quite possibly get back his home,” said Ms. Adams.
She also says that Sen. Pat Toomey’s office has found several federal benefits for White and is standing by to work with Ray to apply for them.
The Association held a fundraiser for White yesterday, April 1, at Tazla’s Restaurant & Bar in Center City.
For those who can’t make the event, please write a check payable to Ray White and mail it to:
Ray White
C/O Joe Eastman
2514 S. 10th Street
Philadelphia PA 19148
A panel discussion featuring Breitbart editor Ben Shapiro, poet and sports shop owner Ben Viden, Delaware State Sen. Dave Lawson, and Pennsylvania State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe will be held 1 to 4 p.m., Sunday, March 3, at Independence Visitors Center Ballroom, Independence Mall, Philadelphia.
Sponosrs are Independence Hall Tea Party Association, WNTP 990AM, American Sheepdogs, Cherry Hill Area Tea Party, Coalition for Advancing Freedom, Delaware County Patriots, Founders Values, Greenwich Tea Party, Patriots of South Jersey and Patriots of Lower Bucks County.
An enthusiastic crowd of well over 100 packed the Newtown Square Knights of Columbus Hall, tonight, Feb. 26, to hear Jennifer Stefano, who is the state director of Americans for Prosperity (AFP), describe the importance of grassroots tea party activism and the need for the groups to present a united front.
The event was sponsored by the Delaware County Patriots.
“A national organization is useless if we don’t have (local people) who trust us,” she said.
Unity was something the left did very well she noted.
“Sometimes we have conversations about nonsense,” she said, however.
She emphasized the importance of priorities.
“Before I ever complain to another group, I’m going to be on the line with my elected officials,” she said.
Among the issues that she discussed was the upcoming sequestration battle which mandates a 2 percent cut in spending — about $85 billion — and was cooked up by Jack Lew as part of the Budget Control Act of 2011. Lew was then President Obama’s budget director. Obama has since nominated him to be secretary of treasury.
Obama now wants to break the deal and not cut spending. Mrs. Stefano is among those wanting to hold him to his word.
“I’m sure all of us have cut 2 percent (of our spending) over the last two years as all of our incomes have declined,” she said.
Among the state issues she mentioned was holding Gov. Corbett to his pledge to block the Medicaid expansion scheme that would give 700,000 low-wage working people access to the federal program. Whether it would give them access to competent doctors is another matter.
Mrs. Stefano noted that the proposal was anti-poor, as it is being discovered that those on Medicaid have health outcomes actually worse than those without insurance.
Also speaking was Mike Henry, who is the new Philadelphia coordinator of Heritage Action for America, who noted that his group concentrated on federal policy while AFP involved itself in state and federal matters.
Mary Ellen Jones gave the opening and closing remarks.
Assemblywoman Alison McHose was honored, Feb. 21, as the Independence Hall Tea Party Association’s 2012 New Jersey State Legislator of the Year.
“Assemblywoman McHose is second to no one in matters the Association cares deeply about–tax reform, free enterprise, and Second Amendment rights,” said Association President Teri Adams.
“Alison McHose has sponsored nearly 100 legislative bills designed to limit government, protect citizens rights, and invigorate our free market system,” said Somerset County, NJ resident and Association board member, Bill Miller
Regina Scheerer of the Delaware County Patriots has sent out this legislative bulletin:
Our US Senator Pat Toomey, along with Senator David Vitter of Louisiana, introduced legislation to create a Constitutional amendment that limits the terms of US Congressmen and Senators.
The limit would be 3 two-year terms for US Representatives and 2 six-year terms for US Senators.
If you support such legislation, please email our Senators Toomey and Casey, and our Representative Pat Meehan, to voice that support.
Senator Pat Toomey’s website,www.toomey.senate.gov/ and then click “Contact”.
Senator Bob Casey’s website, http://www.casey.senate.gov/ and then click “Contact”.
Representative Pat Meehan’s website, http://meehan.house.gov/ and click “Contact Me”.
Our Governor Tom Corbett will propose to the State Legislature that Pennsylvania end its running of liquor stores.
Pennsylvania is one of only 2 states that still run its own liquor stores and that is not a government function.
The money generated by the sale of the liquor stores and businesses, more that $1 billion, would go to block grants to local school districts, and the retraining and placement of any state store employees not taken on by the private sector.
The money to the school districts would make up for lack of money in recent Federal and State budgets.
The State Pension System could also use some of that money to relieve the taxpayers of the burden of funding the state pensions.
If you support such legislation, please email Governor Corbett, State Representative Bill Adolph, and State Senator Ted Erickson, to voice that support.
Governor Corbett’s Contact: http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?open=514&objID=1072219&parentname=ObjMgr&parentid=11&mode=2
Representative Bill Adolph: http://www.williamadolph.com/ and click “Contact”.
Senator Ted Erickson: http://senatorerickson.com/ and click “Contact Me”.
BillLawrenceOnline Wins Franklin Award — BillLawrenceOnline.Com and Matt Rooney of SaveJersey.com are the 2012 winners of the Independence Hall Tea Party Association’s (IHTPA) Benjamin Franklin Award for Courageous Journalism.
The awards were presented this afternoon, Jan. 5, in a ceremony outside Independence Hall that followed a re-enactment of the Philadelphia Tea Party of 1773 starting with the readings of resolutions writing by Dr. Benjamin Rush and passed in Philadelphia on Oct. 16. WPHT talk show host Dom Giordano played the role of Dr. Rush in reading the resolutions with the crowd supplying the assenting votes. The Bostonians used the resolutions as justification for their more famous tea party on Dec. 16.
John Peteraf of the IHTPA’s board played the role of Captain Ayers who sailed his ship the Polly back to England on Dec. 27, 1773 after being warned what would befall him if he should attempt to unload his tea in Chester as planned.
The narrator was Tory McClintock, a senior at Gwynedd Mercy Academy High School, who recently served an internship with Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ).
Also receiving awards from the IHTPA were U.S. Congressman Allen West, 2012 Federal Legislator of the Year; Sen. Dave Lawson, 2012 Delaware State Legislator of the Year; Alison McHose, 2012 New Jersey State Legislator of the Year; and Rep. Daryl Metcalfe and Rep. Tom Quigley, 2012 Pennsylvania State Legislators of the Year.
Also a check was presented to Broad Street Ministry on behalf of the work they do for homeless veterans. Accepting the check was Joe Eastman, the retired naval officer who directs veterans service for the ministry. Eastman said more women are availing themselves of this service. He said they are learning that many women have been traumatized by sexual assault during their military service. He said Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) has been instrumental in investigating the problem and seeking ways to address it.
A panel discussion featuring Rooney, Bill Lawrence and former Highland New Jersey Mayor Anna C. Little was held following a hoagie brunch in the National Constitution Center upstairs banquet hall.
One very good reason to attend an IHTPA function is the music. The excellent Whitehall Fife and Drum Corp entertained the crowd before re-enactment and provided the appropriate backing during it.
During the brunch they put down the fifes and drums and used a guitar for some nice background music.
Right after the re-enactment, Mayor Little, who has a professional quality voice, led the crowd in God Bless America making sure to include the song’s rarely sung introduction.
The awards were presented by IHTPA President Teri Adams. Don Adams provided the panel questions.
The Delaware County Daily Times (Pa.) published this letter by Lisa Esler in response to an article regarding the rejection of a resolution by the Penn Delco School Board to ask the state legislature to end the mandate requiring school districts to pay a “prevailing wage” for public works of greater than $25,000. This means that to bid on these jobs contractors must pay a wage that “prevails” in each reason. This “prevailing wage” is determined by the state’s Department of Labor and Industry.
One should also note that contractors are also required by federal law to pay “prevailing wage” on all projects which receive in excess of $2,000 of federal funding.
It is well understood that this significantly inflates the cost of public works and the burden on the taxpayer.
And we wonder why our lives are getting harder while the lives of the politically connected are getting easier.
Lisa is a member of the Penn Delco School Board and the Delaware County Patriots.
Here is her letter:
This is in response to the article concerning the prevailing wage resolution which was voted down 6-2 by the Penn Delco School Board.
Prevailing wage inflates the cost of school construction projects costing the taxpayers from 10 to 30 percent for these projects. This money would be better used to help in the education of our children. The school board’s responsibility is to represent the children and the taxpayer, not to pay inflated prices for construction or represent any group of constituents directly.
Many of these same construction companies would do the work for less but are bound by this law (unfunded mandate) which was created by bureaucrats in Harrisburg who continue to feed off of union contributions for their elections. Other school boards in the state have passed the same or similar resolutions, including two in Chester County with a 9-0 vote.
The Pennsylvania School Board Association, which most school boards are members of, including Penn Delco, has said that prevailing wage is the number one unfunded mandate from Harrisburg and provided a similar resolution encouraging school districts to pass.
Legislation from Harrisburg ties the hands of school boards from making financial decisions that would benefit those they represent and legislators continue to put their own personal gain above their constituents. This is seen not only with the prevailing wage law but their unwillingness to end teacher strikes in Pennsylvania as well as deal with the pension crisis which they were well aware of years ago and were not willing to deal with until it hit “crisis status.”
The question remains, who does Harrisburg really represent if common-sense legislation is ignored? And what responsibly does the school board have in shedding light on important legislation that benefits both children and taxpayers?
Obamacare Horrors Detailed To Delco Pats — A near-capacity crowd that approached 300 heard that Obamacare will be much worse than even a Tea Partyer might suspect. Those attending the event at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Newtown Square tonight, Aug. 1. were both optimistic and enthusiastic in stopping it.
Katy Abram of Americans for Prosperity told the attendees at Hands Off My Healthcare that six-and-a-half million Pennsylvanians that now pay an income tax can expect to pay $3,065 more next year because of it.
Dr. Richard Leshner who is chief of cardiology at St. Mary’s Medical Center said doctor-patient privacy will soon be a thing of the past under The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
“Only two people are supposed to be in the room,” he said during a patient consultation. “That’s not the future”.
Chris Stigall, whose talk show airs 5:30-9 a.m. weekdays on 1210 AM, said he was given a article from an Irish newspaper from friend from Havertown named Brian that described how a young girl had used up her oxygen quota and couldn’t get new tanks. That, he said, was the future here.
Hands Off My Healthcare was hosted by Americans for Prosperity and The Delaware County Patriots.
“It’s not about healthcare,” said Leshner regarding the law. “It’s not about women’s right. It’s about control.”
He said the law creates a vertically integrated payment structure that will keep doctors from having a say in how the treat their patients. He noted that the law strongly encourages employers to dump their health care plans as it costs about $8,000 per year to cover an employee’s insurance while the penalty for not doing so is but $2,000.
He said expect rationing.
Mrs. Abram, who entered the public stage when she told then Sen. Arlen Specter that he “awakened a sleeping giant” during a town hall in the summer of 2009, described how the IRS and Department of Justice will have as much to do with administering Obamacare as the Department of Health and Human Services.
Mrs. Abram, however, also provided details on a way to slay the monster. She showed this video from the Cato Institute as to why states should reject health care exchanges forcing the federal government to foot the load. Feds don’t have the money to fund a national exchange. A state gets no benefit or flexibility for setting one up an exchange of its own as they are but portals into a national system.
Seven states — Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Wisconsin, South Carolina and Idaho — had declared they won’t be setting up state ones.
Pennsylvania is a different story. Gov. Tom Corbett — never a Tea Party favorite — has accepted $34 million from Washington for a state exchange. Mrs. Abram played a video of comments made by Corbett shortly after the Supreme Court ruling declaring Obamacare constitutional which indicated that he would comply with the law.
Mrs. Abram said Pennsylvania could either adopt a health exchange through an executive order by the governor or via a bill passed by the legislature. She said she didn’t think Corbett would go out on a limb to issue an executive order. Americans for Prosperity will be circulating Health Care Freedom Pledges for state legislators to sign.
Mrs. Abram said that while supporters of a state health exchange included the usual suspects like unions and Planned Parenthood, they also included the Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce.
In other items from the night, Leshner said electronic record requirements cause doctors to see 20 percent fewer patients.
“The great lie is that electronic records help you,” he said.
He agreed with a questioner who asked if Obama was purposely trying to force Catholic hospitals out of business.
He said the reality is that President Obama’s plan is not designed to help the needy.
He said the consequences that we suffer are “the ramifications of his stupidity.”
One woman during the question session said that many workers don’t understand how soon they might lose their insurance benefits. She suggested that people start quizzing management about their plans and asking co-workers what they had heard.
The night’s introductions were made by Mary Ellen Jones of the Patriots.
Aaron Summers of the Republican Party’s Delaware Victory Center made a short presentation about the need for volunteers. The center in Suite 208 at the Springfield Shopping Center, 1001 Baltimore Pike, Springfield, is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
WPHT host Chris Stigall takes a question from the audience for Katy Abram and Dr. Richard Leshner.
Don Adams presents a gift to Pam Geller. At the podium is Teri Adams.
Tea Party Movement Alive In Philly — Teri and Don Adams of the Independence Hall Tea Party Association (IHTPA) had another Independence Day triumph before a maximum occupancy crowd of at least 300 at the Independence Visitors Center Ballroom across Market Street from Independence Hall.
The group has held Fourth of July events at Independence Mall featuring nationally known speakers for four straight years. It was moved inside this time due to forecasts of near 100 degree heat and thunderstorms.
This year’s keynoter was the oft-vilified, always underestimated and near heroic Pamela Geller of the Freedom Defense Initiative.
Ms. Geller, a human rights activist, noted that while she is accused of being anti-Muslim, had no problem with Muslims. She said, however, she had a problem with Sharia Law and its demeaning treatment of women and religious minorities. She said she welcomed Muslims coming to America to escape the oppressive law.
Ms. Geller said that the struggle facing this generation is an old one between those who believe in the autonomy of the individual and those who believe in the supremacy of the state. This is why the left usually finds itself on the same side as Islam, she explained, a matter that sometimes confuses the right.
She said that the fight against Sharia is no different than the fight against communism or Nazis, a name that she pointedly noted stood for National Socialism.
Ms. Geller said the Sharia supporters are making surprising inroads into our nation and culture. Islamic leaders shamelessly defend female genital mutilation here, she said. She stressed the importance of voting out President Obama this November, under whose watch moderate Islamic nations have fallen to Sharia throughout the Mideast and who did not lift a finger to help courageous pro-liberty supporters in Iran.
She said Obama has been a strong supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, support which was instrumental in their takeover of Egypt.
Ms. Geller said that the establishment media is a tool of the left and is effective in marginalizing conservative’s best spokespeople specifically citing Sarah Palin. She said too often the conservatives abandon them when this happens and that conservatives must learn to stick with those who have been knocked down.
Emcee duties were handled flawlessly by Ms. Adams and the flow was kept moving smoothly by presenters WHPT talk show host Dom Giordano and WDEL talks show host Rick Jensen. Jensen pointed out that 40 percent of self-proclaimed conservatives did not vote in 2008, and that the nation couldn’t afford them sitting out again.
Sher Valenzuela, who is Delaware’s Businesswoman of the year and is the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor of that state, described the tragedy to come if Obamacare is not repealed. She said that her son was diagnosed with autism and was told he would never be able to read or write. She and her husband began a second job to raise the money so he could be treated by a specialist. The boy is now a freshman at the University of Delaware. She was emphatic that that could not have happened if the new law was in existence at the time.
Brandon Posner, the chairman of the Bucks County Teenage Republicans and the grandson of refugees from Castro’s Cuba, described the importance of freedom and the American ideal. The poise shown by someone who had just ended his sophomore year at CB East High School was remarkable.
The 2012 Patriot of the Year award was bestowed on Ryan Manion Borke of the Travis Manion Foundation. A prior commitment kept Borke from attending. The award was presented by Giordano on behalf of the late Joey Vento who was last year’s winner.
The presentation of awards by prior winners has become an event tradition.
The 2012 Betsy Ross Activist of the Year Delaware Award was presented by Kristen Sherman of Founders Values to John Radell of Faith and Freedom of Delaware.
The 2012 Besty Ross Activist of the Year New Jersey Award was presented by Bill Miller of Project Shining City to Cort Rosholt of the IHTPA.
There were two Betsy Ross awards given to Pennsylvanians. Carol Klein of numerous groups presented one to Lin DeCesare of the IHTPA and Saturday Morning in America. The other was presented by Phil Schieber of the IHTPA to Lisa Esler of the Delaware County Patriots, who is also a member of the Penn Delco School Board. Ms. Esler also played an instrumental role in Rogers Howard’s primary challenge to Dominic Pileggi in 9th District State Senate race.
The George Washington Leadership Award was presented by Carol Klein, Teri Adams, Sharon Cherubin to Rich Davis of American Sheepdogs whose successful efforts to lead a counter protest against anti-military demonstrators in West Chester that greatly helped the morale of returning veterans and their families.
Also speaking at times were Ms. Adams and Rick Eckert of the IHTPA. The invocation was given by Rev. Jesse W. Woods Jr., associate minister of the 2nd Baptist Church of Germantown. Music was provided by the 286 Band
The formalities ended with a panel discussion about how to defeat Obamacare presented by Don Adams; moderated by Gary R’nel of WPHT; and featuring Dr. Ed Turzanski of the Foreign Policy Research Institute; Arvin Cabali, M.D., of Docs for Patient Care, Pennsylvania; attorney Matt Rooney of SaveNewJerse.com; Mark A. Young, M.D. of Physicians for Palin; Sgt. Robert Mansfield (ret), Iraq War veteran and the Republican congressional candidate for Pennsylvania’s 2nd District; and Rick Jensen.
An expected counter protest by Occupy Wall Street fizzled in the sizzle. Some signs were held up during the city’s Fourth of July Parade down Market Street preceding the event. A handful of unwashed types with duffle bags were seen lounging on the lawn of the Mall, although they denied being with OWS when asked and expressed concern that the asker was with the police.
This fellow said he was not a member of Occupy Wall Street but said he came down to join their protest. He found himself trapped on the south side of Market Street during the parade, while most of the other sign holders were on the north side. His signs, which were made from pizza boxes, say “End The NWO New World Order” and God’s Voice Not Man’s Voice”.
