It was a joy to be there. The scene was an oldish but charming building off Huger St. where the city vanishes and the river is in view -- an appropriate setting for an event in which politicians leave the capitol-city matrix to get back to basics as they were known for millennia before the age of instant communication. But instant communication is what the event was all about: Dr. Edwin Vieira and other notables in the real-money field were heard and (mostly) seen via internet! At least two spoke on one large screen and their charts were viewed on another beside it.
I drove down with Josiah Magnuson, one of the tech guys that made it all happen. We hoped to caravan with Prof. Steven Yates and other upcountry stalwarts but it didn't work schedule-wise. Much mingling and confabulating were accomplished at the hall before the welcoming and introductory speakers were heard. About 7:30 it was time for the long-awaited banquet. This featured a delicious array of vegetables with a superbly done prime rib being carved at the end of the line.
After the main speakers had had there say, the great Disciple Aaron Bolinger, a moving force on all such activity in this state, went to the podium and tied it all together in optimistic and practical terms. The socializing, plottin' and plannin' resumed as the vast assemblage of electronic equipment was broken down. Some of us had been wondering about the big black concert grand piano lurking in the farther shadows -- it turned out to be a superb, vintage Baldwin. Josiah fittingly gave us a round of A Mighty Fortress Is Our God on it, and I played (while everybody sang) Dixie.
As you'll read in Aaron's followup email (with germane links) below, the Summit was timed to coordinate with a key legislative hearing the next day.
From: Aaron Bolinger [mailto:aaron@nvcca.net]
Sent: Monday, February 14, 2011 9:33 AM
To: Patricia; Jackie (SC) Fowler
Cc: CCL@ChristianLifeandLiberty.net
Subject:
Friends:
The South Carolina Economic Summit, and the open (two-house) hearing the following day in the State Senate building, were both absolute successes! From the standpoint of the public and grass root group leadership that attended – we were delighted! The number (18) of state legislators who made it on either or both days exceeded our expectations! (A FULL 10% of the South Carolina legislature is now studying the subject of Sound Money!)
It would have been difficult to imagine this outcome. But we will graciously accept it and use this momentum for more forward progress.
Perhaps the two questions asked most after the event were:
• What is the plan now?
• Can I get copies of the videos that were produced, and documents used for the Summit?
Answering the second question first, “yes,” we will be producing multi-disk (DVD) sets of the material used for the Economic Summit. We are compiling (over 12 hours of video was shot ...) and it will take perhaps two weeks to edit and produce this DVD collection. The documents (slide shows, etc.) are also being uploaded shortly to our web site (www.nvcca.net ).
The plan for forward progress is a bit more involved. Stage One is continuing education. 10% legislative involvement is outstanding. But it takes 51% to pass any legislation at all. So we still have about 60 more state legislators to FULLY inform on the substance of this plan, and gain their approval for it.
Also part of the education process is the general public, including the business community. With the media tone-deaf to reality, that will be challenging all around. But the SC Sound Money Committee is continuing to work hard -- and with you on our side it can happen!
The first thing we really need is for YOU to help. Pick any one or more of these items and just DO IT!
• Make a donation. We have two booklets (“Economic Federalism” and “American Leadership”) that explain in great detail much of the substance of the material we covered in the summit. (A flyer is attached showing what these two books are about.) They were designed FOR ONE PURPOSE: Educating our state legislators. Monographs from Larry Parks, Edwin Vieira, and others, specific to our banking system, and why we need an alternative medium of exchange to protect against the coming collapse of the paper dollar, are in these books. There are 170 state legislators in South Carolina. Every one of them should get a copy of each of the books. Then they can read at their own leisure about all the nuances of having a parallel system of sound money functioning in the State, and the other elements of our Platform for Liberty. Any donation coming from any source, regardless of amount, will be used to acquire them – as long as you specify you want your donation to go to that purpose. (Or simply order blocks of these books on your own and help distribute them at the capitol with us!) Contact Jackie Fowler for info on making a donation to that element.
• Contact YOUR state legislator! It is not necessary that you be an “economic expert” to discuss this subject with your Senator or Representative. Very short, simple messages will be sufficient. Just say “members of the Assembly are working on a plan for gold and silver coinage as an “insurance policy” in the event of economic turmoil in our nation. I would appreciate it very much if you would work with Rep. Michael Pitts [if a House member] or Senator David Thomas [if a Senator] in developing and endorsing this plan in the South Carolina Assembly.” Let them know you are in their district, and watching!
• IF YOU ARE IN OR NEAR COLUMBIA – our team is working inside the Capitol on a regular basis. If you can make it to the State House, please contact Patricia Wheat. There will be books to deliver, appointments to be kept, and many members to meet with on liberty subjects. More bodies in the state house means more people can hear from us IN PERSON. There is NO SUBSTITUTE for personal contact! They are in on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of each week. You can see them even if they are in the chamber and in session. Our activists can train you on working with House or Senate pages (at the front desk near the assembly chambers) to meet members IN PERSON! The goal: NO LEGISLATOR LEFT BEHIND!
The “Platform for Liberty” contains over 30 items of model legislation. Some of it has ALREADY BEEN INTRODUCED and is waiting for action. As we find bill numbers, we will pass along the info. When any of this legislation shows up, it is crucial for two things to happen: 1) Contact legislators and request them to CO-SPONSOR; 2) attend any hearings scheduled to either testify in support of it, or just to be present so they know the public is supportive. (H-3029 is the bill to DISconnect Social Security Numbers from all state documents. This one is in the Judiciary committee, and NEEDS SPONSORS!) A collection of other bills are in the drafting stages right now, by assorted members. We’ll give an update when bill numbers appear, or committee action is imminent.
Disciple Aaron
Bible translator-theologian
Legislative Director, NVCCA & Restore the Republic
www.restoretherepublic.net
National/Regional Conference Call Every Tue. eve., 7:30 pm Eastern time: 724-444-7444 (14259#)
Order American Leadership, and other books by Aaron/NVCCA at: 800-231-0521
Aaron's theological videos: www.vimeo.com/discipleaaron
(Videos about the connection between the SSN & the mark of the beast & MORE!)
Learn how to work your state legislature, or watch
videos geared for state legislators on a variety of topics: www.nvcca.net/media.html
Download state legislative research reports & model legislation assembled by the NVCCA: www.nvcca.net/documents.html
"It is not the function of our government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the government from falling into error." (United States Supreme Court - American Communications Association v. Douds)
"The argument that the two parties should represent opposed ideals and politics of the Right and Left, is a foolish idea ... the two parties should be almost identical, so that the American people can throw the rascals out without leading to any profound or extensive shifts in policy. It should be possible, to replace one party with the other party which will pursue, with new vigor, approximately the same basic policy."
--Dr. Carroll Quigley, Tragedy and Hope
Quotes from Gordon Chesterton:
- "The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried."
- "Religious liberty might be supposed to mean that everybody is free to discuss religion. In practice it means that hardly anybody is allowed to mention it."
- 'My country, right or wrong' is a thing that no patriot would think of saying, except in a desperate case. It is like saying, 'My mother, drunk or sober'.
- “The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected.”
"it is a very difficult thing where a subject-matter of dispute, strictly and purely ecclesiastical in its character,--a matter over which the civil courts exercise no jurisdiction,--a matter which concerns theological controversy, church discipline, ecclesiastical government, or the conformity of the members of the church to the standard of morals required of them,--becomes the subject of its action. It may be said there, also, that no jurisdiction has been conferred on the tribunal to try the particular case before it ... " (Watson v. Jones, 13 Wall. 678 (1872)
In other news.... most strangely, Ron Paul has been kicked off of the advisory board of the Young Americans for Freedom. Suddenly they find he's soft on"national security", obviously meaning he opposes ameriKa's insne warmongering. Since it make no sense at all and Dr. Paul's position is the same pure Constitutionalism it's always been, I suspect backroom politics are at work here -- and I find it passing strange that the axe-man is named Jordan MARKS, the anglicization of MARX as in the creator of communism. Here's a ringing denunciation of this pseudo-conservative outfit by one of the great Libertarian founders. Mr. Rothbard wrote at the time YAF was (as my fellow boomers will remember) grabbing headlines as a supposed "extreme right" organization. Mr. Rothbard's piece is amazing current -- we disagree only with his lack of a distinction between small-L "libertarians" (Tom Jefferson, Ron Paul and you) versus capital-L"Libertarians" (the word as soulless, rootless institution).
Listen, YAF
http://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard90.html
Now, here's a highly meaningful if tragic story you won't find in today's daily fishwrap despite the profound meaning of the anniversary on which it expounds. Anybody remember? A decade ago, Slick Willie had sicced federal goons on a huge, thriving church in Indiana for the "crime" of refusing to gouge its staff members' paychecks for the tax thieves. But then all cocnerned citizens heaved a sigh of relief as the great Christian conservative Republican messiah George W. Bush got elected president. Surely he, the great /grassroots hero of our dreams, would put a stop to this ongoing crime?
You know, by standing up for religious freedom and the rest of the Bill of Rights at the end of the eleventh hour? This was, after all, supposed to be "Morning in America", as the adults came back to take over
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