Robin-gate

Robin-gate distilled: It all seems really messy, but there are some accusations that seem like they might need some further looking into. I will be the first to say that I am not the most objective person when it comes to these facts, but I have read all the articles that have come out on this, and here seems to be the talking points.

1) Robin who is campaigning as a fiscal conservative, left the TN republican party with a $19,000 overdraft and $100,000 in debt.
2)As Robin left the TN Republican Party she arranged for a very large bonus to be paid to a member of her team, who then left his position with the TN Republican Party. Shortly after leaving he used that money to start working as a volunteer with "Team Robin" until she could raise enough funds to put him on as full time campaign staff, which she later did.
3) Robin accused Chip of lying about her money issues, but the documents show that the party did have a significant shortfall and that Chuck was in fact correct.

Again, I know I am in no way impartial, but this does seem interesting. Now there is a ton of he said she said that goes along with this, so it is for each of us to dig through the facts and find the truth.

If you just want to save your time, there is a better candidate. Van Irion - The Tea Party Candidate

Come Meet Van Irion This Weekend

LiberTea Republican Congressional Debate

The Chattanooga Tea Party and Campaign for Liberty are joining together to sponsor a series of LiberTea Debates in preparation for the 2010 elections. The first of these public Debates will feature the six announced Republican candidates for Tennessee?s Third Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives (currently held by Zach Wamp) on Saturday, January 30, 2010 from 2:00-3:30PM. The event will be hosted at Woodland Park Baptist Church by the Community Impact Team and it is located at 6735 Standifer Gap Road, Chattanooga, TN 37421. The Debate is free and open to the public.

The six candidates who have confirmed their participation in the first Debate are Tommy Crangle, Chuck Fleischmann, Tim Gobble, Van Irion, Arthur Rhodes and Robin Smith.

At the conclusion of the Debate (from 4:00-5:00PM) attendees will have an opportunity to meet with the participating candidates individually in separate rooms, thus allowing citizens to visit with the candidates in an intimate manner to further discuss issues of interest to them.

Attached for your reference and distribution is a Flyer that provides all of the information about the Debate.

I trust you will be able to attend the event. Additionally, please don't hesitate to share this email invitation with your email network, friends, co-workers and families as well as inviting your pastor and church members to attend.

EVENT FACTS:
Date: Saturday, January 30, 2010
Debate Time: 2PM - 3:30PM
"Meet the Candidate" Time: 4PM - 5PM
Format: Moderator to present questions (submitted by public, CTP, HCFL & CIT members)
Location: Woodland Park Baptist Church (6735 Standifer Gap Road, Chattanooga, TN 37421)
PLEASE RSVP at:
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=163802917049&index=1
Meetup - http://www.meetup.com/Chattanooga-Tea-Party/calendar/11700834/
If you have any questions, then please give me a call.
David Gidcumb
423-505-1467

random politicalish thought

Even during times of great perversion evangelicals need to realize that it is not the role of government to protect citizens from themselves. We need to realize that while it might seem morally advantageous to undermine the Constitution now, that in future generations that same authority will be used to persecute our posterity. The precedent we establish will come back to haunt us.

Sheriff Gobble

Here is an opinion piece that I submitted to the Chattanoogan, but it never got published. It was in response to sheriff Tim Gobble opinion piece entitled Sheriff Gobble Looking Forward Maybe it was a bit harsh, and that is why the Chattanoogan did not publish it. I just hate not questioning career politicians as they work their way up the ladder. I have heard him speak two different times and by all I can tell he is just a classic neo-conservative. Haven't we had enough of the new conservatism?

Sheriff Gobble,
You spoke at the Tea Party rally on the 15th and many of us there were shocked to see you take the stage. Your "Sheriff Gobble Looking Forward" opinion piece in the Chattanoogan exemplifies why many of us were dismayed at your participation. The main point of the Tea Party was not only that we are over-taxed, but that we are over-taxed due to our federal government over-stepping its constitutional bounds. As conservative Republicans, Democrats, Constitutionalists, Libertarians, and Independents, we came together around our Constitution, demanding that our leaders follow the road map our Founders gave us. We are tired of our Senators and House Representatives only bringing up the words Strict Constructionist and Originalist when it is politically advantageous or when Supreme Court Judges are being nominated. It is time for politicians to get a constitutional backbone, and I am afraid you have shown us exactly how you will behave if elected as our Congressman.

Sheriff Gobble, just because our out-of-control government chooses to spend our money in ways the Constitution has not specifically mandated, it does not mean you should belly up to the feeding trough. Tennessee's third district should be leading the country as stalwarts of constitutional excellence. Sheriff Gobble, I really can not imagine that you would think the federal government has any constitutional authority to get involved with the funding of police officers. The Tenth Amendment clearly makes the funding of police officers a state issue.

My two points are this. First, even if you were to take our money to fund new police officers for the next four years, the big question is how are you going to pay their salary once the grant money runs out? Sounds like either a tax increase or you are planning on President Obama's spend-our-way-out-of-debt scheme to work. Secondly, by taking this dirty money you are doing exactly what Madison in the 10th Federalist Paper referred to as an "improper or wicked project". What you are doing is taking part in indebting our children and grandchildren so that you may enjoy the security of extra police officers now.

Sheriff Gobble please answer this question: if the Bradley County Commission somehow had the power to take your great grandchildren's money to fund police officers now, would you take it? I hope you would not. You must agree that the ethical ground you tread on is part of an improper and wicked project. Sheriff Gobble it is not your money to spend. Period.

David Gidcumb http://twitter.com/davidgid j.d.gidcumb@gmail.com

James Madison on Freedom

The people cannot be all, and always, well informed.

This is such an interesting quote by Jefferson.

thoughts on the pledge

Since becoming involved politically over the last few years, I've become involved with groups that say the pledge of allegiance before meetings. What goes across my mind while saying the pledge is "Why the heck are we doing this?" I never questioned it as a kid, but now I just can't help but wonder about the historical context. I do find it interesting that we did not start pledging allegiance until 1892. To boot it was written by a Baptist minister who was involved with the Christian Socialist movement, which by the way is completely antithetical to the thoughts of our Founding Fathers.

So I wonder what our Founding Fathers would have thought about the pledged. I know they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor, but my feeling is they would have serious problems with the wording of the pledge as it stands. I mean really, for those who have studied our founders and the concept of the government they endeavored to create, do you think they would have used the word "indivisible". Not. A. Chance.

luv me some bureaucracy

I am still reading through The Revolution a Manifesto by Dr. Paul and have been eating up his chapter entitled Economic Freedom.

Check this quote out:

Getting the Home Office finished

For those who have not heard I will be working from home full time starting December 1st. I've been working on building an office out of the corner of my garage over the last 2 months. I still have a ton to do, so I made a list, which should keep me from jumping spasmodically from task to task.

1. Get the subfloor down(11-8)
2. Get the last socket wired(11-8)
3. Rough in the new AC vent(11-8)
4. Hang last piece of sheetrock(11-9)
5. Get first coat of mud on everything(11-11)
6. Take down old hot water heater vent (11-15)
7. Patch vent hole(11-15)
8. Blow in insulation(11-16)
9. Patch holes created from insulation(11-16)
10. Finish floating all sheetrock(11-26)
11. Paint walls and ceiling(11-26)
12. Put down flooring(11-29)
13. Hang door 1(11-29)
14. Hang door 2(11-30)
15. Trim out room(12-04)
16. Hang new lighting(12-04)
17. Run 100 feet of coaxial cable under house(12-09)
18. Connect AC vent(12-09)
19. Box around dryer vent
20. Box around back of AC vent
21. Paint trim
22. spackle and caulk trim