Medina for texas campaign launches ballot initiative drive

[jblosser]

MEDINA FOR TEXAS CAMPAIGN LAUNCHES BALLOT INITIATIVE DRIVE; "WE TEXANS MUST DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY FROM REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES"


Read all six ballot initiatives (http://www.medinafortexas.com/initiatives.php)
Volunteer to gather petition signatures in Texas (http://www.medinafortexas.com/contact-us.php)


Austin, TX, July 2009 - The Medina For Texas campaign, in an effort to bring about a restoration of accountability in government and to create new tethers insuring our elected officials serve the people, has launched an effort to place unprecedented provisions on the Republican Party primary ballot in March 2010. The campaign plans to gather signatures in support of six ballot initiatives (http://www.medinafortexas.com/initiatives.php) at Tea Parties being held around the state this July 4th weekend.

"We Texans must demand accountability from Republican candidates. We are calling on all Texas Republicans to take personal responsibility and help us provide new guards for our future security, just as our Founding Fathers described in the Declaration of Independence," said Debra Medina, Republican Gubernatorial candidate.

Texas Election Code 172.088 (http://tlo2.tlc.state.tx.us/statutes/docs/EL/content/htm/el.010.00.000172.00.htm#172.088) provides that "voters by petition may require that a proposal to include a demand...for matter...in a political party's resolutions be submitted to a vote in the Party's general primary election by placement on the general primary election ballot."

"Voters are tired of the lack of accountability from candidates in office to those who elected them, and we have got to stop excusing that kind of behavior," Medina said. "Americans are demanding responsibility from government and We Texans will lead the way."

The ballot initiatives (http://www.medinafortexas.com/initiatives.php) call on the Republican Party of Texas to require Republican candidates pledge to support or do no harm to Republican values as stated in the party platform in four areas: limited government spending, property rights, Texas sovereignty, and support of life. Two additional initatives call on the party to require transparency of a candidate's positions and to impose term limits.

Placing each initiative on the ballot requires signatures equal to 5% of the votes cast in the 2006 Republican primary for Governor. The Medina For Texas campaign will be out in full force to gather signatures, starting with the Texas Tea Parties held throughout the State from July 1-4.

"Our campaign promotes a return to individual freedom and limited government," Medina said. "By working together, We Texans can remain strong, free and prosperous, restore accountability to our government, and ensure our elected officials serve the people who elected them."


Read all six ballot initiatives (http://www.medinafortexas.com/initiatives.php)
Volunteer to gather petition signatures in Texas (http://www.medinafortexas.com/contact-us.php)

[jblosser]

Ballot Initiatives

Gubernatorial Candidate Debra Medina's We Texans campaign is looking for volunteers to help with petitions for several ballot initiatives.

These ballot initiatives will help We Texans bring about a restoration of accountability in government and the creation of new tethers insuring our elected officials serve the people – to allow Texas to remain strong, free and prosperous.

The Petitions

* Life

BE IT RESOLVED, The Republican Party of Texas should adopt a rule that adds to the content of the "Application for Place on the Primary Ballot" the requirement that the candidate signs the following pledge: "I solemnly swear or affirm on my honor to support or do no harm to Pro-Life Legislation and oppose intrusions of the Federal Government upon the authority of the citizens of Texas to determine the legal limits of the State with regards to Life."

* Spending

BE IT RESOLVED, The Republican Party of Texas should adopt a rule that adds to the content of the "Application for Place on the Primary Ballot" the requirement that the candidate signs the following pledge: "I solemnly swear or affirm on my honor to support the adoption of zero-based budgeting for all items included in the State of Texas' bi-annual budget, limit government spending, and stop encumbering future generations with debt."

* Property Rights

BE IT RESOLVED, The Republican Party of Texas should adopt a rule that adds to the content of the "Application for Place on the Primary Ballot" the requirement that the candidate signs the following pledge: "I solemnly swear or affirm on my honor to support or do no harm to private property rights in Texas by working to eliminate property taxes and strengthening protections against eminent domain seizures."

* State Sovereignty

BE IT RESOLVED, The Republican Party of Texas should adopt a rule that adds to the content of the "Application for Place on the Primary Ballot" the requirement that the candidate signs the following pledge: "I solemnly swear or affirm on my honor to support or do no harm to Texas' State Sovereignty, reserved under the 10th Amendment, with the understanding that Texas will retain its sovereignty, freedom and independence and every power, jurisdiction and right which is not expressly delegated to the federal government by the U.S. Constitution, and oppose mandates beyond the scope of federal authority."

* Term Limits

BE IT RESOLVED, The Republican Party of Texas should adopt a rule unilaterally establishing term limits as an additional eligibility requirement when seeking a place on the primary ballot for all state officeholders i.e., state representatives, state senators and all state-wide officeholders.

* Party Platform

BE IT RESOLVED, The Republican Party of Texas should adopt a rule adding to the content of the "Application for Place on the Primary Ballot" requiring each non-judicial candidate to disclose their support, opposition, or undecided position on each plank of the platform.


An Explanation:

Our elected officials are unaccountable and the voices of We the People seem to carry little weight. There are vehicles by which we can restrain our government and restore it to proper constitutional boundaries. We Texans need to use them!

We must do more than simply vote every two years for candidates who, after being elected, seem to forget the very principles that gained our trust in the first place.

All political power is inherent in the people. The Freedom of Assembly protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees more than the freedom of speech or the right to gather to stage protests or rallies. It guarantees more than the forming of political parties. It guarantees that we have a mechanism to effectively have our grievances redressed. A political party has the power to set the standards for whom it will allow to be placed on a ballot under its name, and We Texans as the members of the party have the power to determine what those standards are. This authority of the people is not often discussed by the party leadership and current elected officials who prefer to maintain the status quo, but it is real and it is powerful when used.

Our nation's founders certainly understood this power:

“That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. … when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.” - Declaration of Independence 1776

And the courts continue to uphold it to this day:

“... the Court has recognized that the First Amendment protects the freedom to join together in furtherance of common political beliefs, … which necessarily presupposes the freedom to identify the people who constitute the association, and to limit the association to those people only, … That is to say, a corollary of the right to associate is the right not to associate...” California Democratic Party, et al. v. Jones, et al., Decision No. 99-401, decided June 26, 2000 United States Supreme Court

This election cycle, let's use these powers and demand that candidates seeking to run for office in the Republican Party’s Primary do more than just take our money and ask for our vote. The Ballot Petition Drive is one step in a multi-step process to make Republican Candidates accountable to generally ignored positions of the Republican Platform.

What will the petitions do?

We Texans will

1. Demand that the party require every candidate to disclose their position on every plank of the platform: support, oppose, or other--i.e., an unequivocal record of where the candidates stands;
2. Demand that the party impose unilateral term limits on the eligibility of candidates seeking the Republican Party Nomination for office, e.g., State Representatives to three consecutive terms etc.;
3. Demand that the party have every candidate sign a pledge of support for certain core issues, such as state sovereignty, property rights, fiscal conservatism, and the right to Life.

Establishing new guards of accountability will not be a simple task, and this is only the first step. Signing these petitions and asking others to do the same will send a message to the party that We the People will not accept more of the same. But to ensure the party listens, we must get involved in the convention process and become party delegates ourselves and make our voices, in addition to our vote, heard. Plan now on attending your precinct convention and working and fighting to be a delegate to your County or Senatorial District Convention, and from there to the State Convention. Delegates supporting these principles were nearly 40% of the vote at the last State Convention and your participation WILL make the difference. More information on how to join us will be coming as this project progresses. For now, sign the petitions, ask everyone you know to do the same, and work to stay informed.

The problems in the political system are pervasive, so the clean-up starts with honest new blood, new troops maintaining their integrity, willing to do what is necessary to restore the forms of our Republican Party and erect new guards for our future security.

Nothing is gained by complaining and then watching our State and Nation fall into disrepair. Now we can do more than talk the talk, We Texans can stand up and fix it.

FIRST we must clean our own house and clear out the unethical actions from within our own party. Join us on the path to restore our republic!

[jblosser]

bump

[jblosser]

bump

[Dustancostine]

bump for liberty..... also what are your thoughts?

[TGGRV]

It's amusing to me how they use the pro-life thing as a prop.

Not that I see why people care so much. Just get an abortion in a different state, but it's really amusing to me.

[Dustancostine]

It's amusing to me how they use the pro-life thing as a prop.

Not that I see why people care so much. Just get an abortion in a different state, but it's really amusing to me.

Its not a prop. Each initiative must get the signatures, it is not one and all. Each must stand on its own.

[jblosser]

People, this is one of the most important initiatives launched in the course of this R3volution, and it's discouraging to not see more discussion.

People around this country are sick and tired of voting for politicians who act like politicians and go off and serve special interests. The entire point here is educating people that under our Constitution, WE CAN DO MORE THAN JUST VOTE. We can use the rights we have already secured to establish new Guards, just like the Declaration of Indepence teaches us. And we can do this peacefully.

Starting here, we can in the future FORBID people who routinely lie about what they stand for and vote against those who elected them from running on a given party platform. They can always go run somewhere else, because the people always have the right to elect them, but the grassroots members in parties can start exercising some discipline instead of just bending down to fundraising cries and abuse from on high.

This is the last thing in the world the political machines want people to realize, but the courts have affirmed it over and over. The First Amendment guarantees us more than the right to speech, it guarantees us the right to assemble. Do not ignore it.

[american.swan]

People, this is one of the most important initiatives launched in the course of this R3volution, and it's discouraging to not see more discussion.

People around this country are sick and tired of voting for politicians who act like politicians and go off and serve special interests. The entire point here is educating people that under our Constitution, WE CAN DO MORE THAN JUST VOTE. We can use the rights we have already secured to establish new Guards, just like the Declaration of Indepence teaches us. And we can do this peacefully.

Starting here, we can in the future FORBID people who routinely lie about what they stand for and vote against those who elected them from running on a given party platform. They can always go run somewhere else, because the people always have the right to elect them, but the grassroots members in parties can start exercising some discipline instead of just bending down to fundraising cries and abuse from on high.

This is the last thing in the world the political machines want people to realize, but the courts have affirmed it over and over. The First Amendment guarantees us more than the right to speech, it guarantees us the right to assemble. Do not ignore it.

+1

[RPTXState]

No. This is a BAD idea. They'll just turn this around make all candidates swear loyalty to the Republican Party Leader and force all candidates to support the neoconservative platform or kick them out. Or if a State GOP Convention goes badly (Debra should have experience with this) they could force all candidates to support abortion, the War on Terror, the PATRIOT ACT, etc or keep them off the ballot. Bye Bye Ron Paul, Medina, and all other liberty lovers in Texas.

[american.swan]

No. This is a BAD idea. They'll just turn this around make all candidates swear loyalty to the Republican Party Leader and force all candidates to support the neoconservative platform or kick them out. Or if a State GOP Convention goes badly (Debra should have experience with this) they could force all candidates to support abortion, the War on Terror, the PATRIOT ACT, etc or keep them off the ballot. Bye Bye Ron Paul, Medina, and all other liberty lovers in Texas.

Maybe we should rethink this. I hadn't thought of it from this angle. If the "liberty" section of the party is small enough, they would not consider it painful to kick them out either. The larger issue to note is that if they did kick the liberty people out then how would our movement, considered to be small go? Third parties aren't viable. We don't want to be kicked out. The presumption is that the leaders couldn't ram a neocon platform passed a state convention. We need to be very careful here.

[jblosser]

We have certainly thought of it from this angle and it's a short-sighted argument.

The abusive powers-that-be do not need a new rule to shut people out, they are quite happy to do it in the face of any rule or law that exists. Regardless, they already have the power under the law to do something like this if they want to try to do it and the majority votes for them. One of the latest case rulings affirming this right of the people and parties was in Texas, last season, when Kucinich sued because the Democrat Party here had ballot access contingent on the applicant signing an oath they'd support the eventual nominee. The court ruled the party certainly had the right to do that, and he lost his case.

But the powers-that-be only want to make use of this authority sparingly because they don't want people to know it's there. They have been trying for years to deny it's there, and have done all they can to prevent people from seeing the court cases that back the argument up. The less people realize they can DO something, the more they just sit around and complain. Again, they don't need to use the law to do things like this, they are quite happy to do it anyway.

To prevail we MUST be the majority at some point. Dodging around that or avoiding the use of massive weapons in our arsenal because they'll get us noticed or because they can legally attempt to use the same against us is not going to get us anywhere. Instead we should embrace the tactics under the law which will go a very long way toward bringing in the rest of the masses out there who want to see a restoration of the Republic but believe just voting is worthless.

All political power is inherent in the people and it's high time we stopped thinking in terms of what's approved by those currently lording over us and start thinking in terms of what we have to do to fix things.

[cjhowe]

We have certainly thought of it from this angle and it's a short-sighted argument.

The abusive powers-that-be do not need a new rule to shut people out, they are quite happy to do it in the face of any rule or law that exists. Regardless, they already have the power under the law to do something like this if they want to try to do it and the majority votes for them. One of the latest case rulings affirming this right of the people and parties was in Texas, last season, when Kucinich sued because the Democrat Party here had ballot access contingent on the applicant signing an oath they'd support the eventual nominee. The court ruled the party certainly had the right to do that, and he lost his case.

But the powers-that-be only want to make use of this authority sparingly because they don't want people to know it's there. They have been trying for years to deny it's there, and have done all they can to prevent people from seeing the court cases that back the argument up. The less people realize they can DO something, the more they just sit around and complain. Again, they don't need to use the law to do things like this, they are quite happy to do it anyway.

To prevail we MUST be the majority at some point. Dodging around that or avoiding the use of massive weapons in our arsenal because they'll get us noticed or because they can legally attempt to use the same against us is not going to get us anywhere. Instead we should embrace the tactics under the law which will go a very long way toward bringing in the rest of the masses out there who want to see a restoration of the Republic but believe just voting is worthless.

All political power is inherent in the people and it's high time we stopped thinking in terms of what's approved by those currently lording over us and start thinking in terms of what we have to do to fix things.

+1

[american.swan]

We have certainly thought of it from this angle and it's a short-sighted argument.

The abusive powers-that-be do not need a new rule to shut people out, they are quite happy to do it in the face of any rule or law that exists. Regardless, they already have the power under the law to do something like this if they want to try to do it and the majority votes for them. One of the latest case rulings affirming this right of the people and parties was in Texas, last season, when Kucinich sued because the Democrat Party here had ballot access contingent on the applicant signing an oath they'd support the eventual nominee. The court ruled the party certainly had the right to do that, and he lost his case.

But the powers-that-be only want to make use of this authority sparingly because they don't want people to know it's there. They have been trying for years to deny it's there, and have done all they can to prevent people from seeing the court cases that back the argument up. The less people realize they can DO something, the more they just sit around and complain. Again, they don't need to use the law to do things like this, they are quite happy to do it anyway.

To prevail we MUST be the majority at some point. Dodging around that or avoiding the use of massive weapons in our arsenal because they'll get us noticed or because they can legally attempt to use the same against us is not going to get us anywhere. Instead we should embrace the tactics under the law which will go a very long way toward bringing in the rest of the masses out there who want to see a restoration of the Republic but believe just voting is worthless.

All political power is inherent in the people and it's high time we stopped thinking in terms of what's approved by those currently lording over us and start thinking in terms of what we have to do to fix things.

Ok, so they can already kick us out. Alright. I understand this because this reminds me of Augusta National and the Masters case a few years ago. Alright. Let's raise Kane. ;)

[jblosser]

If nothing else, the Tea Parties should make it *CLEAR* that the number of those wanting to upset the status quo political system VASTLY outnumber the entrenched lie-cheat-steal interests. So we shouldn't fear something that always comes down to who has the most votes. We should instead pursue real action that will in turn bring in those majorities and send the abusers packing.

[jblosser]

Sounds like we got well over 2,000 signatures this weekend at tea parties around the state. Not a bad start.

[Akus]

Sounds like we got well over 2,000 signatures this weekend at tea parties around the state. Not a bad start.

why is it that when I wiki Debra Medina, all I get is some soap opera character. Can't somebody make an article on her and her politics, at least a short one.

[james1906]

Jimbo Wales and his brownshirts will deride her as non-notable.