BNJacksonGA

This is the first of a series of articles about the conservative movement in America.  We will explore the reasons why this has become such a main-stream term, and part of the reason why we have various conservative groups showing up. These days, conservative is the new green. Make no mistake, these are not social groups or clubs, but rather they are groups of ordinary citizens, many with little to no experience in politics that have simply had enough. They are tired of doing nothing and watching the very essence of America dissolve before their very eyes. After watching our elected officials make a mockery of the branches of government, separation of power, and the constitution, regular citizens got mad. After watching our elected officials, our law makers, act like over-grown toddlers, these people read the constitution and the anger continued to grow into action.

Our country is facing a historic time with an out of control congress, members of the republican party that don't seem to understand what 'conservative' means, and a president that seems to be focused on destroying our great country from the inside without any apology. This president seems to disregard separation of powers that our very wise founding fathers created for our protection.

In a briefing to a special task force, CBO (Congressional Budget Office) stated “Federal debt will reach 62 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by the end of this year – the highest percentage since shortly after WWII.”

 This is double what it has been on average for the past 40 years.  Our unemployment rate is still flirting with 10%, twice the level during the bush years. This began to climb after the liberals gained the majority in the house. However, the mainstream media continues to spin the numbers to say we are improving. The private sector continues to struggle and with the additional "fees"- which is the new word for tax- small businesses, in particular, will continue to hemorrhage until, finally, withering into nothing and disappearing all together.  This will lead to a reliance, for survival, on the federal government. The current US president stated in a press conference Jul 1, 2010, "All signs show that our economy is on the right path, not fast enough for many Americans out of work and fast enough for me..". Really, Mr. President? So passing bills that add fees, raise taxes and further target industries probably is a tremendous help...

This same administration made it their sole purpose for the first 18 months to pass a socialized and nationalized healthcare program. During this period more Americans were losing private sector jobs and more small businesses were closing their doors. This bill polled consistently that the majority of Americans were opposed to this program. In addition to many other issues, CBO Director, Douglas Elmendorf stated, "Federal spending on major mandatory healthcare programs will grow from roughly 5 percent of GDP today to about 10 percent in 2035 and will continue to increase thereafter."

This program will continue to close medical practices, shut-down private providers, reduce veteran's benefits, drastically cut Medicare funding, and cause a higher demand for Medicaid while decreasing these benefits. The rhetoric is to bring down the cost of health-care while allowing all Americans to participate. These statements have also included "going after the big insurance companies". What is interesting is that we have yet to see one insurance company speak in opposition, but are rather in support of this health-insurance reform bill. This program is riddled full of additional "fees" and wasteful spending. Some employers have begun to eliminate health-insurance for their companies as a direct result of this bill.

Most importantly, the health-insurance bill does little to help provide cost-effective insurance for all Americans, except by force. Never, in our history, has the federal government mandated that all Americans procure a particular good or service. If this is not an over-extension of the government's power and constitutional power, I do not know what is.

Forgive me for my rant, I seem to be one of the few that is still passionate about how wrong that bill, by itself, is. There are other proposals going or that have been passed such as financial reform, federal bailouts, which have rewarded arrogant industries for poor management, and, essentially, enforced bad behavior.

Sadly, we have ourselves to blame for this mess. As Congressman Paul Broun said, "We have the government we demanded." Indeed we have, sir. We have gotten here because we have refused to vote and we have refused to hold our representatives accountable. And those of us who have voted, have done so blindly without actually choosing the right candidate, but rather by picking the name we have seen or heard the most.

Within the party, we have been guilty of even worse politics. For example, my home is in Jackson County and the Jackson County GOP, for many years, was a closed society. Upholding the proud virtues of the "good ole boy" network and should one break ranks, they were socially shunned. More importantly, it was largely a closed organization.  The chairman was selective in who he would even provide an application of membership to. The party was also not inclusive and it was just a small clique controlled which the majority. The motivation, as with most problems in most cultures, centered around power and money. Rather than being a united county party, supporting all republican candidates, and working within the district or the state, it was an isolated empire controlled by a select few for the personal benefit of those select few.

Fortunately, the leadership has changed and the party is rapidly growing under the leadership of Ron Johnson, who will be the first to tell you that it is "our party" and "our executive board" rather than his county GOP. I see many county parties struggle because of an insecure or foolishly selfish chairman who continues to hold the cards close to his or her chest. Rather than delegate to staff and volunteers duties. They tend to take their ideas and do every little task or breath down the necks of the few they reluctantly allow to participate. In the end, the party suffers, the good ideas are not implemented, and they continue to be control-freaks, for their own benefit. If we want to make a difference, we must all stand united, with the same motivations which are pure in nature; the betterment of our country and the future for our families. Allow and utilize passionate volunteers who want to do more than hold up a sign and yell on the side of the street.

Ron's leadership speaks for itself in the consistent growth of the party, activeness within the community and party. The inclusion of all that want to be involved, and the delegation of duties has led to a 180 degree turn in direction. Further, he listens to the members, empowers them to stay active and busy and rather than come together for meetings, and actually work for the party within the district. Most importantly (are you sitting down,  this is radical) he is working with neighboring counties and the North East area of Georgia together for the party. Because we have been asleep at the wheel and fighting among ourselves, we have lost the majority and allowed those by only party affiliation to put our country on the course we currently are on. We took out eye off of the ball! This is a game we can not lose.

Party politics have turned many people away from the republican party as well as the polls. Slowly we are starting to see  true republicans seek office to represent the people and are genuine in their desire. It will take more than one election cycle to clean house, but change is definitely coming. We keep hearing "remember November," but the primaries are even more important, as we select the Republican that we should rally behind to defeat the liberal.

With that being said, we can not attribute these changes to a unified voice of one party or group, but rather of citizens passionate about conservative values and parties. This series will explore three organizations that have been influential in bringing the conservative message to the people, reminding us all of our basic US history. Most importantly, these organizations are doing what the party and all of us involved should have been all along. Working together, with a unified purpose and mission; get the right leaders elected to bring us back to the basics, a country of growth and prosperity, a prosperous free market, while we enjoy our liberties and freedoms. It is a sad state when groups are formed, out of sheer frustration with the party and by our elected representatives, to bring forth a country following its constitution.

 This series will explore the Conservative Republican Woman, The Tea Party groups, and the 9.12 groups. The overwhelming theme from this investigation is "We are tired, frustrated, and taking matters into our own hands."  In addition to the bad behavior and poor representation, the majority of the frustration has been with individuals who have for far to long held the reigns of power and played politics, within politics. The first group we will explore is the Conservative Republican Women's group.

Tags: 9.12, CBO, Conservative, Constitution, douglas Elmendorf, GDP, GOP, Jackson County, Jackson GOP, Medicaid, Medicare, Obama, Obamacare, Paul Broun, Republican, Ron Johnson, Tea Party, the 9.12 Project