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John Kerr speaks at the Maui Kiwanis Club  On Thursday, May 24th, 2012, John Kerr, former President and current Member-at-Large of TEA Party Maui was invited to speak to the members of the Maui Kiwanis Club by Myles Kawakami, President of Hawaii Carpet One. John spoke about how it appeared that America was in decline with an out of control debt of more than 16 Trillion dollars or $50,000 per person for every man, woman, and child in America. He stated that our future economic condition was in crisis due to a lack of leadership and a dearth of confidence and faith and how for the first time ever in our country, our children and grandchildren were facing the prospect of a lower standard of living. He cited a recent Gallup poll that reported more than 80% of Americans were dissatisfied with the direction the US was headed. America could only remain a prosperous welfare state if its people were wiling to accept vastly higher taxes and the rest of the world (mostly China) were willing to continue to lend us lots of money at low interest rates. But this condition is not sustainable as is already apparent in the impending collapse of socialistic and indebted countries like Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal, etc. America needs to return to the economic ideals that made her great; the system of free enterprise that respected the right of private property, encouraged industry, a system based on merit which provided every individual the opportunity to succeed and reap the rewards of his own work. John reported on a Rasmussen poll stating that a vast majority of Americans still believe that free enterprise is the best system. But the paradox is that despite the continued belief in free enterprise, progressive and statist government has been growing for over a hundred years in America. Why is this? Because Americans like free enterprise, but they also like to take advantage of free handouts! It appears that we have failed to make our case for free enterprise/individual rights in sufficiently convincing terms. The argument in favor of free enterprise has always been made in economic terms only. John argued that we needed a new moral/cultural frame of argument to rejuvenate the American spirit to move us all away from corporate cronyism, redistribution of wealth, and statism. John concluded by stating that the key to r restoring America is a return to the our founding principles of freedom and liberty and a rejection of government controlled economy. For a full text of John's speech, please click on this link --> John at Kiwanis Club . Representative George Fontaine Speaks at TEA Party Maui Meeting  Hawaii State Representative George Fontaine, District 11, (Kihei, Wailea, and Makena) was the featured speaker at the TEA Party Maui Monthly Meeting on May 17th, 2012. Mr. Fontaine serves on several Legislative Committees including Education, Transportation, Judiciary, Labor & Public Employment, and Public Safety and Military Affair and is one of only eight Republicans in the State House. Mr. Fontaine talked about the House Minority Caucus’ 2012 Legislative Package, released on January 20, which included a four-step recovery plan that focused on: job creation and retention; government accountability and transparency; reducing the cost of living, and protecting our communities. Mr. Fontaine also undertook undertaking a review of the various bills that the Hawaii State Legislature considered, debated, and killed or passed during the last House session. More than 2100 bills had been introduced, with less than 200 bills actually being signed into law. Special guests at TEA Party Maui Special Meeting on May 10th, 2012  TEA Party Member Jim Wagoner (pictured in center above) invited Dick Rowland, President of Grassroots Institute of Hawaii (above on left) and Russ Walker, National Representative of FreedomWorks (above on right) to address TEA Party Maui at a Special Meeting on May 10th, 2012. Grassroots Institute: Founded in 2001 by Richard Rowland, Grassroots Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and the only free market think tank in Hawaii The mission of Grassroots Institute of Hawaii is to promote individual liberty, the free market and limited accountable government. Through research papers, policy briefings, commentaries and conferences, the Institute seeks to educate and inform Hawaii’s policymakers, news media and the general public. The purpose of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii is to improve the relationship between the government and the people with the objective of improving the effectiveness of the government, the business climate and in some cases, tradition, to foster an atmosphere in Hawaii that results in maximum personal freedom for every individual. Dick Rowland’s primary message was a simple but effective one: think of the political spectrum as up and down rather than left and right. Up is where individual is sovereign, personal liberty reigns supreme and where the state is established and empowered to protect our God-given rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Down is where the State is sovereign; the individual is a subject and not a citizen, and where there are no unalienable rights, only those rights granted by the state. In this frame of mind, each of us should look critically at every proposed law and raise the key question: will this law move us up or down the political spectrum. Dick challenged all of us to implant this thought process like a virus into anyone and everyone that we come across. FreedomWorks : Founded in 1984, FreedomWorks is headquartered in Washington, DC, and has hundreds of thousands of grassroots volunteers nationwide. The organization is chaired by former U.S. House Majority Leader Dick Armey and the President is Matt Kibbe. According to their web site, FreedomWorks members know that government goes to those who show up, and are leading the fight for lower taxes, less government, and more freedom. FreedomWorks recruits, educates, trains and mobilizes millions of volunteer activists to fight for less government, lower taxes, and more freedom. FreedomWorks believes individual liberty and the freedom to compete increases consumer choices and provides individuals with the greatest control over what they own and earn. FreedomWorks' aggressive, real-time campaigns activate a growing and permanent volunteer grassroots army to show up and demand policy change. After Russ Walker talked about the organization, mission and purpose of Freedoomworks, he went on to describe how Freedoomworks worked to organize and coordinate the efforts of the many Tea Party and other conservative grassroots organizations in Indiana to assist Richard Murdoch in defeat six-term incumbent Dick Lugar in the recent Indiana Republican primary for the US Senate seat. It was a fascinating and uplifting story of the strength and impact that a disparate group of Indiana Tea Parties wielded when they coordinated their efforts to elect a conservative candidate. His message was that the Tea Party movement was far from being over, rather it has morphed into an effective political machine for placing true conservative candidates into public office. Even CNN had to admit that “Richard Murdoch…benefited from the manpower and money from Tea Party activists”. TEA Party Maui holds a Tax Day Rally on April 16th, 2012
 Some typical posters at the 2012 TPM Tax Day Rally On Monday April 16th, TEA Party Maui held a Tax Day Rally at the County/State/Federal complex on S. High Street, Wailuku. Posters, banners, and American Flags were displayed expressing concern over the deepening burden of excessive Federal and State taxes designed to support an ever expanding and invasive Government. The public response was generally warm and affirmative. After the rally, participants went over to Kahului Park on Onehee Ave. for a potluck (after all, what's a rally without food). Pamela Tumpap, President, Maui Chamber of Commerce speaks at TEA Party Maui meeting  Photo of Pam Tumpap speaking to TPM audience Pamela Tumpap, president, Maui Chamber of Commerce was the featured guest speaker at the TEA Party Maui General Meeting on Thursday, April 12th, 2012. The vibrant, energetic Ms. Tumpap gave a stirring and inspiring presentation on the congruent values held by TEA Party Maui and the Maui Chamber of Commerce. Ms.Tumpap also echoed the sentiments expressed at another meeting earlier in the year by Myles Kawakami, President and CEO of Hawaiian Carpet One/Ceramic Tile on the "Conservative Coalition" and how uniting the diverse demographics of small business owners/employees and various church groups in our movement can lead to a reversal of the current progressive stranglehold over Maui and State politics as a whole. Her presentation was well received by the enthusiastic audience. TEA Party Maui bids Farewell to Sherri Kerr
On March 22nd, 2012, before the regularly scheduled Constitution Class, a surprise Pot Luck dinner was held in honor of Sherri Kerr to bid her farewell and to express our appreciation for all her service to TEA Party Maui. Many of our members came to say goodbye and to wish Sherri well as she returns to Arizona after 30 years on Maui. She will be missed!
TEA Party Maui: Keeping it Light (Not Really) From the Patriot Post: Forward to the Unemployment Line The Department of Labor released the April jobs report this morning, and it's more of the same -- a dismal "recovery" as Obama moves us "forward." The economy added just 115,000 jobs, once again shy of "expectations," and the headline unemployment rate ticked down to 8.1 percent. The media are working hard on behalf of Obama's re-election campaign by conveying that things are getting better. The truth is, however, the reason the rate is going down is because people are simply leaving the workforce. Some 522,000 people gave up, and labor participation is now at its lowest since 1981. Forward!
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