Alaska Republican Party Loses Another Popularly-Elected Official

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Photo Credit: dmcdevitOn July 4, 2013, the Secretary of the Alaska Republican Party, Alicé Leuchte, resigned from the increasingly troubled state party, claiming that she was not only “blocked from contributing the expertise I promised the Delegates at the State Convention, but I have also found myself serving alongside fewer and fewer properly elected officers.” Here’s her letter of resignation:

Dear Fellow Republicans:

I came to the Alaska Republican Party as an outsider, and volunteered to work for Alaska Republicans. I brought with me my experiences within the Republican Partyof Virginia and affiliated organizations, as well as my creative talents and skills gained in my professional life in New York, Miami and elsewhere. Due to rare circumstances, I was able to volunteer these resources to the Alaska Republican Party on a full-time basis throughout a two-year term.

Looking back at the past year, I have not only been blocked from contributing the expertise I promised the Delegates at the State Convention (32:25), but I have also found myself serving alongside fewer and fewer properly elected officers.

A Party that claims fealty to constitutional, self-government must have leadership that is concerned with the integrity of the political process, and willing to serve a common set of rules and principles. The rules and platform of a Party are the guidelines on how the leadership of a Party is to represent and serve the members. If you are currently in a leadership position, and not interested in serving Alaskans within those parameters, you may soon find yourself standing alone.

Thankfully, the responsibility of maintaining integrity in our political process doesn’t just fall to leadership, but to all Alaskans. Our strength is in our numbers, and together we have the strength to restore our representative, republican system – with or without the blessing of those occupying leadership roles. It is not a State Chairman or a State Executive Committee that determines the values and policies of the Republican Party within Alaska. It is Alaska Republicans that dictate the direction of our Party.

Therefore, I am calling on all Alaska Republicans to restore the representative, republican nature that should guide our Party, and organize under the Founding values that we share. How this is done I will leave to you.

In closing, here is my official statement:

I was elected to the office of Secretary in order to serve Alaska Republicans, safe guard the representative process and promote republican principles. The organization currently known as the Alaska Republican Party does not serve these interests, and I refuse to cooperate with those who abuse volunteers, violate the trust of voters, accept donations from unions and seek influence through intimidation and coercion. Therefore, I will continue to serve the trust given to me by Alaska Republicans, and disavow this organization. Thank you.

Constitutionally yours,
Alicé Leuchte
Former Secretary of the Alaska Republican Party

Independence Day 2013: The Return of the Intolerable Acts

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On this day in 1776, our founders signed the Declaration of Independence, an event that changed the course of human history. But 237 years later, it is easy for us to lose sight of what it cost the men who put their names to paper on that day.

They were Englishmen, loyal subjects of the crown. But they were also men who lived under the protection of English law, and as such, knew that even monarchs are obliged to follow the laws of Nature and Nature’s God.

And they knew that defying the authority of the world’s most powerful empire came with great risk . . . yet they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor for the cause of liberty.

In so doing, they chartered a creed that has been a beacon of hope the world over – for all who long for freedom.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident,” they said, “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

That to secure THESE Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their Just powers from the consent of the governed . . .”

But years before these immortal words were penned, those proud English subjects had endured abuses at the hands of a remote and despotic government.

By the time the British Parliament had passed the Stamp Act of 1765, the Quartering Act of 1766, and the Townsend Acts that took effect in January of 1767, the seeds of revolution had been sown. These were all, in effect, taxes levied upon the governed without their consent.

When the Tea Act precipitated the Boston Tea Party in 1773, the British Parliament responded with a series of new laws tabbed by Patriots in America as “The Intolerable Acts.”

As we all know, the one thing we learn from history – is that we don’t learn from history.

And so in 2013 we have a remote and increasingly tyrannical government cutting back room deals, passing bills they’ve never read, violating the Rights of citizens, and acting in wanton disregard for the will of the governed.

Now it is Congress who passes “Intolerable Acts.”

First there were Bailouts for Wall Street and those Banks that were “too big to fail.”

Massive transfers of American wealth – out of the hands of the hard-working citizens – to an elite group of unaccountable plutocrats.

Then there was another massive redistribution scheme masquerading as a “Stimulus package” for our ailing economy, followed by the federal take-over of our healthcare system.

Now Congress may be on the verge of passing yet another boondoggle, this time one that dismantles the integrity of our borders, and forces hard-working Americans to once again ante up for millions of foreigners who have invaded our borders in violation of the law.

What do all these Intolerable Acts have in common?

•They were all passed without the consent of the governed.
•They were all rushed through a harried process that didn’t allow for members of Congress to know what they were even voting on.
•And they all involved massive redistribution of OUR wealth – to corporate and special interests – who have essentially bought and paid for our elected leaders.

To be sure, Democrats in Washington are driving this agenda, led by a President whose hubris is unrivaled in the annuls of our history.

But the Republican Establishment has proven to be little more than a collaborative partner in the “fundamental transformation” of America. They are modern-day Tories in the struggle against a remote imperial government.

History tells us there is a progression: First comes public protest, then civil disobedience, followed by outright rebellion.

Freedom is innate. A government that disregards the lessons of history is one that is doomed to repeat them.

On this July 4th, we pray our leaders will seek the Wisdom that is from above, and right our course before “the last best hope of man on earth” is lost to us. There is no need for this great nation to repeat the mistakes of past.

It is time to rebuild the foundations – and so we offer a prayer that belongs to all of US*:

Our Fathers’ God, to Thee,
Author of Liberty…
Long may our land be bright,
With Freedom’s Holy Light,
Protect us by Thy Might,
Great God our King.

As we celebrate today with friends and family, may we acknowledge the Author of these Truths we still hold. And we know, the Truth will set us free!

While there is much that is wrong in America – there is still much that is right. So let us strengthen the things that remain, and work to rebuild the foundations.

And that begins today . . . in your community . . . with family and friends.

Happy Independence Day! And may God bless the United States of America!

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*”My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” was regarded as the nation’s national song until the Star Spangled Banner was officially adopted as the national anthem in 1931.

Surveillance State on Steroids: Fed’s Tracking All Postal Mail, Too (+video)

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Photo Credit: NY Times Leslie James Pickering noticed something odd in his mail last September: a handwritten card, apparently delivered by mistake, with instructions for postal workers to pay special attention to the letters and packages sent to his home.

“Show all mail to supv” — supervisor — “for copying prior to going out on the street,” read the card. It included Mr. Pickering’s name, address and the type of mail that needed to be monitored. The word “confidential” was highlighted in green.

“It was a bit of a shock to see it,” said Mr. Pickering, who with his wife owns a small bookstore in Buffalo. More than a decade ago, he was a spokesman for the Earth Liberation Front, a radical environmental group labeled eco-terrorists by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Postal officials subsequently confirmed they were indeed tracking Mr. Pickering’s mail but told him nothing else.

As the world focuses on the high-tech spying of the National Security Agency, the misplaced card offers a rare glimpse inside the seemingly low-tech but prevalent snooping of the United States Postal Service.

Mr. Pickering was targeted by a longtime surveillance system called mail covers, a forerunner of a vastly more expansive effort, the Mail Isolation Control and Tracking program, in which Postal Service computers photograph the exterior of every piece of paper mail that is processed in the United States — about 160 billion pieces last year. It is not known how long the government saves the images.

Read more from this story HERE.

Pro-Abortion Activists in Texas Threaten Lawmakers, Want Their Daughters Raped

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Photo Credit: National Review By Betsy Woodruff. Pro-life legislators in the Texas statehouse have faced threats and abuse from pro-choice protesters, prompting at least one to bring in extra volunteers to help with security.

State representative Jonathan Stickland tells NRO that being vocally pro-life has made him a target for abuse and threats from some of the pro-choice protesters in Austin. The night before state senator Wendy Davis’s filibuster, she requested that people send her stories about the importance of abortion rights that she could read during the filibuster. Stickland tells me that inspired him and a few other representatives from Tarrant County (part of which is in Davis’s senate district) to send in 84,160 pieces of blank pink and blue paper to represent the number of abortions in Texas last year.

“We delivered them to her office so that she could read the untold stories of all the kids who were aborted last year,” he says, adding that the gesture made him the target of intense vitriol, including thousands of tweets. Many were “very, very hostile,” he says.

“My favorite one was probably this female who said that she couldn’t wait to see Representative Stickland so that she could pummel my face in,” he tells me…

State senator Donna Cambell [has] received Facebook messages and e-mails saying, “I hope you’re raped” and “I hope your daughter’s raped”…Read more from this story HERE.

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Texas Committee Passes Bill to Ban Abortions at 20 Weeks

By Steven Ertelt. The House State Affairs Committee last night passed a pro-life bill to ban abortions in the state after 20 weeks of pregnancy and hold abortion facilities accountable for obeying health and safety laws.

The last attempt to pass the bill was halted in the state Senate with a pro-abortion filibuster but state Sen. Wendy Davis says she will not filibuster the bill a second time.

The bill would ban abortions after 20 weeks and hold abortion clinics accountable by making them meet basic health and safety standards that have closed facilities in other states that are unable to comply. The bill also requires all abortion clinics to meet the same health and safety regulations as an ambulatory surgical center, requires a doctor providing abortions to secure admitting privileges at a nearby hospital, and lastly, requires a doctor to personally administer the abortion-inducing drugs to the patient.

The hearing saw the halls packed with over 2,100 people wanting to testify on the bill — with most of them pro-life and supporting it. The final count on the bill was 3,543 who registered a position with the Texas government computer system — 2,181 supporting the bill and 1,335 against it.

“In terms of witnesses, the system has never seen overload like this,” said Rep. Helen Giddings, the vice chairwoman of the House State Affairs Committee. Read more from this story HERE.

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Pro-Abortion Mom Makes Child Hold “Stay Out of My Womb” Sign With F-Bomb

Photo Credit: Life News

Obama’s Fundamental Transformation of a Nation He Despises

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Photo Credit: GettyIs it just incompetence, or is there something else going on here?

Obama’s only real competence, it seems, lies in spying on Americans and imposing new restrictions on their liberty. This fact may be the key to understanding this president. He has shown himself sympathetic toward every anti-American dictator on the planet, warmly embracing Hugo Chávez, lifting travel restrictions to Castro’s Cuba, and (when he thought no one could hear him) promising a cozy second term with President Putin.

Obama’s love affair with Marxist tyrants has not earned him any favors — not even the return of one globe-trotting traitor. The best he can do is issue a weak protest and direct his new secretary of state to remark that Hong Kong’s and Russia’s actions in regard to Snowden are really “disappointing.” That kind of swagger should make the Chinese and Russian leadership wet their britches.

For his part, Obama has done nothing, perhaps because he is still in thrall of anyone who calls himself a Marxist. The only people he really distrusts are Americans, especially those patriotic Tea Party members who care about their country’s future.

Does President Obama really hate the American people that much?

Read more from this story HERE.

Ted Cruz: Obama’s Egypt Policy a ‘Stunning Diplomatic Failure’ (+video)

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Photo Credit: APBy Brendan Bordelon. Texas Republican Sen.Ted Cruz blasted the Obama administration’s policy toward Egypt in a scathing op-ed in Foreign Policy magazine, slamming the president’s stance on the Muslim Brotherhood “one of the most stunning diplomatic failures in recent memory.”

As the Egyptian military ends President Mohamed Morsi’s rule, Cruz points out that the ire of many people in the streets of Cairo is not reserved for the Muslim Brotherhood alone.

“The people protesting in the streets were not only carrying anti-Morsi signs,” Cruz writes. “They were also carrying signs with slogans like ‘Obama Supports Terrorism’ and ‘Obama Supports Morsi,’ as well as pictures of the American ambassador to Egypt, Anne Patterson, with a large red ‘X’ through her face.”

Cruz believes that the 22 million Egyptians committed to ending Morsi’s rule are largely secular, pro-democratic people dismayed at the religious authoritarianism slowly strangling their country.

By throwing America’s weight behind Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, Cruz argues that President Obama has alienated potential allies in the region.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Anti-Obama photos from the Tahrir Square Protests that you probably haven’t seen

Photo Credit: Doug Ross @ Journal Photo Credit: Doug Ross @ Journal Photo Credit: Doug Ross @ Journal Photo Credit: Doug Ross @ Journal

Read more from this story HERE.

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Egypt orders arrest of 300 Islamists: state media

By AFP. The Egyptian police have orders to arrest 300 leaders and members of Mohamed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood after the army deposed the Islamist president on Wednesday, the website of the official Al-Ahram newspaper reported early Thursday.

A senior interior ministry official confirmed to AFP that arrest warrants have been issued for “Muslim Brotherhood members”, but provided no further details. Read more from this story HERE.

House Tea Party Defiance Will Kill Amnesty Bill

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Photo Credit: APElites of both parties are united in support of Marco Rubio’s immigration bill. That sort of unity is remarkable in Washington, but not unheard of.

Here’s the unprecedented part: The elites are going to lose.

The Tea Party has cultivated in House Republicans such a distrust of the establishment and such a disregard for party unity that even when the issue isn’t a Tea Party issue — and immigration isn’t, really — the GOP rank and file have little interest in doing what they’re told.

…Republicans elected since 2010 simply do not feel they need to answer to K Street, the GOP leadership, or any party elites. Newer Republican members came to Washington without the help of business PACs, often running against K Street in primaries and general elections…

So, unlike the days when Bush, Armey and Delay dragged the GOP caucus around, the Republican rank and file today calls the tune for its leadership. Speaker John Boehner, no enemy of K Street, has declared Rubio’s bill DOA in the House.

Read more from this story HERE.

Outrage: Immigrants Account For ALL Job Gains Since 2000, While Native-Born Americans’ Employment Has Fallen

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Photo Credit: APImmigrants — both legal and illegal — have accounted for all of the job gains in the U.S. labor market since 2000, according to a report that highlights the stiff competition for jobs in a tight economy as Congress debates adding more workers to the mix.

The Center for Immigration Studies report, which is being released Wednesday, says 22.4 million immigrants of working age held jobs at the beginning of this year, up 5.3 million over the total in 2000. But native-born workers with jobs dropped 1.3 million over that same period, from 114.8 million to 113.5 million.

Meanwhile, the number of Americans who aren’t in the labor force at all has jumped by almost 13 million to reach 48.6 million — a finding the report’s authors say signals profound changes in the American job market and challenges conventional wisdom that immigration is good for the economy.

“The last 13 years, or even the last five years, make clear that large-scale immigration can go hand-in-hand with weak job growth and declining rates of work among the native-born,” the authors, Steven A. Camarota and Karen Zeigler, say in their report. “Given the employment situation in the country, the dramatic increases in legal immigration contemplated by the Gang of Eight immigration bill seem out of touch with the realities of the U.S. labor market.”

Whether immigrants compete for jobs is a heated topic — though the Senate all but ignored it during the chamber’s debate on its bill to legalize most illegal immigrants and create opportunities for new immigrants and temporary workers to enter the U.S.

Read more from this story HERE.

Establishment Betrayal, Other Factors Leading Republicans to Abandon Party Label

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Photo Credit: legalinsurrectionThis week, The Frontier Lab published the results of months of research into why some Republicans are refusing to go by the label “Republican,” choosing to identify as anything but. I was the Research Director for this study, which applied a research approach called “Behavioral Event Modeling,” which essentially reverse engineers and maps all events that precede an individual’s disaffiliation…

The results were fascinating; after combining the flowcharts from individuals who share conservative or moderate views and no longer will use the label “Republican” to describe themselves, we ascertained four core patterns that they had in common:

1. Rejection of the “Lesser of Two Evils” argument;
2. Articulation of “Loss of Hope” in the GOP;
3. Affiliation with a new community, and
4. Incident of perceived betrayal by the GOP establishment.

…Disaffiliation from the Republican label is not only, or even primarily, a matter of philosophical differences. Rather, the perception of former Republican adherents that their party has personally attacked them, continued to present choices as a “lesser of two evils,” select candidates and principles unpalatable to voters to the point where they retain “no hope,” and failed to provide the sense of community that other outlets like talk radio and the Tea Party provide, reveal that ideology takes a back burner to what is essentially a hollow brand for those disaffiliating.

Read more from this story HERE.

IRS’s Lois Lerner Who Claimed She “Did Nothing Wrong,” Wants Full Immunity to Testify

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Photo Credit: APEmbattled IRS official Lois Lerner will not testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee unless she’s given immunity from prosecution, her lawyer told POLITICO Tuesday.

“They can obtain her testimony tomorrow by doing it the easy way … immunity,” William W. Taylor III said in a phone interview. “That’s the way to resolve all of this.”

The comments reflect the hard-line approach Lerner, the former head of the IRS division that scrutinized conservative groups, and her legal team are taking in defending her role in the agency’s scandal.

Taylor, a founding partner of Zuckerman Spaeder LLP, is even shrugging off the possibility that the full House might vote to hold Lerner in contempt.

“None of this matters,” he said. “I mean, nobody likes to be held in contempt of Congress, of course, but the real question is one that we’re fairly confident about, and I don’t think any district judge in the country would hold that she waived.”

Read more from this story HERE.