I spoke with Congressman Robert Hurt today. I’ve spoken with him enough over the past year to know when he is truly frustrated and this is one of those times. He like many freshman congressman went to D.C. like Mr. Smith. Intent on changing things. Sent there with a purpose and a mission only to have that mission and purpose thwarted. On the issue of spending alone Hurt said ” It’s easy to believe that we won…but now is more important than ever that we stay focused”. He went on to reference that we are borrowing 40 cents of every dollar to the tune of 1.6 trillion every year with a national debt of over 14 Trillion dollars.

It’s “unsustainable” said Hurt, and not just as a platitude. He means it.

If you have listened to some of his floor speeches you can see that he is not the same quiet guy that left Southside back in January.

“Failure to address the problems now will lead to the failure of our nation…I’m not a pessimist as I believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel…I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t” The problem is that, as Hurt puts it, Washington D.C. “moves slow as molasses” .

As I talk to Tea Party leaders across the commonwealth of Virginia they all have the same message. CUT SPENDING. And yet it isn’t getting done. Not for lack of desire on the part of some. The message that isn’t really getting out is what caused this budget crisis? The budget that is being worked on and the “continuing resolutions” that have been passed so far have been for “Fiscal Year 2011″ a budget process that was started under the previous House controlled by Democrats. A Senate Controlled by Democrats. A Whitehouse controlled by a Democrat.

So why is all the blame being focused on the Republicans?

HR 1 the first bill of 2011 cut $100 Billion dollars in waste and abuse. A small dent to be sure, but the number one expenditure in our nation is entitlement spending. ” The big money reforms need to come from Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid or those systems will fail ” and he is right.

Robert Hurt was one of 47 Republicans that has stood his ground on spending according to Heritage.

47 Members (all Republicans) showed a rock-solid willingness to cut spending by voting for every spending cut:

* Amash, Bachmann, Broun, Campbell, Chabot, Chaffetz, Coffman, Duncan (TN), Duncan (SC), Flake, Fleming, Franks, Garrett, Gowdy, Graves (GA), Heller, Hensarling, Herger, Huelskamp, Huizenga, Hurt, Jenkins, Jordan, Lamborn, Mack, McClintock, McHenry, Miller (FL), Mulvaney, Myrick, Neugebauer, Paul, Pence, Pompeo, Price (GA), Ribble, Rokita, Royce, Scalise, Schweikert, Scott (GA), Scott (SC), Sessions, Walsh, Wilson, Woodall, and Young (IN).

In addition to that first 100 Billion Robert Hurt voted for almost $40 Billion more that was shot down by…say it with me…Democrats.

In a statement released via email today Hurt said:

We have taken important first steps to change course in Washington. I have voted to cut over $136 billion in government spending. I have voted to repeal and replace the Democrats’ health care law in its entirety, to repeal the onerous 1099 provision that burdens small businesses, and to de-fund provisions of the law when the House passed H.R. 1.

With rare exception such as his vote to extend the Patriot act I’ve not seen a lot that I should be concerned about.

The real blame needs to be focused on who is responsible for this mess: The Democratic Party.

I’m no friend of the establishment GOP. Their biggest problem is they think in terms of political calculations and not always about doing whats right. They like to throw out the “11th Commandment” and then throw solid representatives under the bus. All that said they are not the wrench in the gears here. Their biggest problem here is they think the truth alone is good enough. That you don’t need to sell the truth. Why? The democrats and Obama sell us lies all the time. Look at Libya. Look at the President today on TV criticizing the oil companies for not drilling when his administration won’t let them drill. A is A, unless you are Obama.

Schumer said he was:

“agonizing over whether to give in to right-wing demands that they abandon any compromise on their extreme cuts.”

“Extreme”? How about you cut 1.6 Trillion Dollars of the money we don’t have? I wouldn’t call that Extreme Chucky! I’d call that RESPONSIBLE!

The GOP Leaders need to hammer this point home at every opportunity:The Democratic leadership had over 1 year starting back in April of 2010 to begin and complete this budget which was supposed to be completed back in October. Instead they’ve been living on borrowed time and borrowed money. Our time and our money!They have been blaming the GOP for “not passing a budget” when it was the 111th Congress that didn’t get it done. Further they are demanding that the debt ceiling be raised to fund their insanity. As a Father I’m constantly telling my kids “money doesn’t grow on trees” but nobody has told these children running the ship of state. Instead, as usual after a game of kick the can, they are pointing the finger at the Republicans who dare to touch their third rails of politics. Sadly we haven’t even started on the Fiscal Year 2012 budget yet. 2 more great examples of the failures of Liberalism.

It’s too soon to throw out the representatives that are trying to get the job done. They are out there. Likely there are a few that are long past their expiration date. Robert Hurt isn’t one of them and anyone that thinks so after 3 months needs to get out of politics.

When the time comes to “shut down” the government my advice to Robert Hurt and anyone else that is serious would be to LET IT! Stand strong and confident that we support you. When it does shut down and the finger pointing begins make sure THE PEOPLE know the cold hard truth and nothing but the truth.

Lynchburg, VA – “Virgil Goode will be attending our meeting on Thursday. He’s going to speak to our membership mostly about about the Arizona situation, and how illegal immigration effects us in general,” said Lynchburg Tea Party chairman, Mark Lloyd.

Also, speaking to the group will be VA5th district GOP candidates Robert Hurt, Mike McPadden, Feda Morton, Laurence Verga, Jim McKelvey, and independent candidate Jeff Clark.

Vice chairman, Kurt Feigel said, “We always have something happening, there is never a dull moment with the Tea Party.”

The Lynchburg Tea Party will be meeting Thursday, May 6th, at 7PM, at the Monte Carlo Italian Restaurant, on Old Forest Road in Lynchburg.

From: VirginiaFifthWatchdog.com

Last Thursday night in Campbell County conservatism and the resistance to the establishment struck a major blow against the machine that has been politics in our area for far too long. Tonight you have a chance to do the same thing  in Bedford. The establishment with the likes of Tucker Watkins and other RINO’s would like you to keep things business as usual. DON’T LET THAT HAPPEN! Send a message to the RPV and the GOP “you work for us” Show up and vote to support <strong>Nate Boyer</strong>.  While last weeks vote was a huge success for us it was VERY close. We anticipate the same thing happening here.

EVERY VOTE here really does matter!
<strong>!!!TONIGHT!!!</strong>
Mass Meeting
of Bedford City/ Bedford County
of the Republican Party of Virginia
As Chairman of the Bedford City/ Bedford County Committee of the Republican Party,
and pursuant to the Plan of Organization and as recommended and directed by the
Committee, I, Kevin Corwin, do hereby issue this call for a Mass Meeting to be held at
<strong><a href=”http://maps.google.com/maps?oe=utf-8&amp;client=firefox-a&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;q=Bedford+Science+%26+Technology+Center,+600+Edmund+Street,+Bedford,+Virginia+24523-+2856&amp;fb=1&amp;gl=us&amp;hq=Bedford+Science+%26+Technology+Center,&amp;hnear=600+Edmund+Street,+Bedford,+Virginia+24523-+2856&amp;cid=0,0,506278965004821562&amp;ei=Hl7DS-H_OcP68AaTg-T3CA&amp;ved=0CAoQnwIwAA&amp;ll=37.328792,-79.524643&amp;spn=0.007217,0.020621&amp;t=h&amp;z=16&amp;iwloc=A”>Bedford Science &amp; Technology Center, 600 Edmund Street, Bedford, Virginia 24523-
2856</a></strong> or alternate site. <strong>Registration will begin at 6:00 PM with doors closing and the
meeting starting 7:00 PM</strong> local time on <strong>April 12th, 2010</strong>

A Message From Nathan Boyer:
<blockquote>The  events of the last few weeks have made startlingly clear how deep is  the threat to our nation’s future as the freest and most powerful  land on the face of the earth. Our President and Congress have with  unprecedented arrogance and disregard for the will of the governed placed  us on a course that will undoubtedly take us forever down the road to  decline as a world power and ultimately to oblivion if we do not strike  back in a way that will cause a dramatic shift in our mindset as a people  as well as in the balance of power in our government.</span>

<span style=”font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: x-small;”> I am seeking to become the next chairman of the Republican party of  Bedford and am asking for your support and help. As I considered whether  to run for this post, even before it became clear that this health care  takeover would be rammed through, I considered the question all of us  must now answer: What does this government takeover mean and what am  I going to do about it? It is clear to any sane person with any understanding  of our American traditions that what we have now is a disaster: A President  and Congress who are nationalizing industries as fast as they can get  their hands on them, crippling those they can’t grab outright and  now grabbing control of something that affects each of us as intimately  as our healthcare. We are on a path to the government controlling every  aspect of our health care. We know that means government beauracrats  will ultimately tell us what treatment we can have, when we can have  it and how much of it we can have. A faceless, unaccountable government  will decide under what circumstances life saving treatment can and can  not be given. Just suppose: you and your spouse have a child born very  prematurely and the doctors are unsure whether his life can be saved.  The procedures used to try to keep the child alive are very expensive.  What if the situation does not meet the criteria established by whatever  government panel is charged with developing guidelines to determine  when such costs are acceptable?What about when our parents and grandparents  are in their declining years and government guidelines forbid them life  saving care because the situation does not meet government cost/benefit  criteria?</span>

<span style=”font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: x-small;”> We have a government that has decreed that we must surrender to them  every aspect of our health. The Speaker of the House of Representatives  defines freedom almost exactly the same way as did Karl Marx! We see  that there is no such thing as a pro-life Democrat in Washington. Or  moderate Democrats either. Our country is bankrupt, we are alienating  long time allies around the world and our leaders are forcing dependency  and coercive government on the American people.</span>

<span style=”font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: x-small;”> Are we going to stand for it? Do we shrug our shoulders and make the  best of the of the death of America or do we stand and be men? Will  we fight to take back control of the country from the radical left?  I believe that we can save the country yet if we will, but it will cost  us something! The first step is to nominate the best Republican candidates  we can and to beat Democrats this fall. The statist Democrat party has  declared war on us as a free people and we must take them at their word  and <span style=”text-decoration: underline;”>defeat</span> them! They declared unmistakably by throwing their  votes on health care in the faces of their constituents that they are  our enemies! They believe that we are either unworthy to govern ourselves  or too stupid. We must hound them out of office and keep them out. </span>

<span style=”font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: x-small;”>Secondly,  we must honestly face the question; what has the Republican party done  since Ronald Reagan that gives us any confidence that the current GOP  leadership will do any more than slightly check the pace of our headlong  rush to socialism and decline?  I maintain that the party leadership  must change. The freedom movement which has found expression in the  Tea Parties, the Fairtax movement, Second Amendment groups, the Parental  rights movement and others must provide a principled new crop of leaders  for the Republican party.  We must open up the nomination process  so we can effectively challenge from the right those Republicans who  forget who put them there. As long as it is so unheard of for an incumbent  Senator or Congressman to lose a nomination battle as to make national  news when they do, Republicans will continue to disappoint us. As long  as we are faced, year after year at the polls with the God-forsaken  choice of holding our noses and voting for a Republican in whom we have  no confidence and who has angered us many times, or voting for a third  party candidate who has no chance of winning, thus allowing a freedom  hating Democrat to win, we cannot hope to see this nation reverse course.     We must take control of the party and keep it.  We must establish  and maintain a truly open nomination system.  We, as the party’s  base, must keep relentless pressure on elected Republicans to repeal  the health care power grab at the federal level and to resist and undermine  it at the state level.  We must be unrelenting and not stop or  get bored or frustrated and lose our focus. </span>

<span style=”font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: x-small;”> Will you help me in this effort?  Will you cast a vote to elect  me as Bedford County Republican chairman?  The vote takes place  at the Bedford Science and Technology Center on April 12.  The  meeting will begin at 7:00.  Any registered voter in Bedford county/city  who subscribes to the principles of the Republican party my participate.   You must sign in, so be early.  Will you join the Bedford GOP committee?   A chairman can accomplish no more than his committee will allow.   We must fill local Republican committees with freedom loving people  who want to see dramatic change. </blockquote>

Perriello supports legislation that is not only unconstitutional, and is being challenged by an ever growing number of states on these grounds, but also completely irresponsible in so many of the details. Viagra to sex offenders being provided by our tax dollars is just one example. 2,700 pages of this atrocity is surely filled with many more wrong headed and sinister surprises.

Tom Perriello must go home to his place in New York in November. He has no regard for the majority opinions of the citizens of VA-05, or across the nation. No matter how much advertising, smearing, or passing out the earmark dollars he does he can not hide the fact that he has assaulted our liberty, and the freedom of future generations with his votes in congress. All clear thinking freedom loving voters of VA5th, and elsewhere should work unceasingly to remove him, and his ilk, from office in November.

Mark Lloyd
Chairman, Lynchburg TEA Party

Here are some videos of the debate if you missed it.

Thanks to our communications Vice Chair, Kurt Feigel and his company Central Virginia Studios for taking the time to edit these videos down and get them online. More are being added HERE

by Mark Lloyd

Chairman Lychburg TEA Party

Today, on the Watch Dog, an LA Times article was linked that quoted Chris LaCivita, Robert Hurt’s campaign strategist. This article appeared Sunday in the LA Times, certainly a left leaning publication if one ever was. The article went on the wire and the AP picked it up, and it appeared this morning in the Lynchburg News and Advance, and probably others as well. The quotes attributed to LaCivita have cause my phone to ring quite often today, and my inbox is getting full. Some TEA Party Patriots in the VA5th are finding offense to the remarks. I understand the reaction, but I must, as a matter of fairness, come forward with some information that should be considered.

Chris LaCivita and I have had our share of disagreements over the last several weeks. I’m quite sure that we will have many more. Stay tuned. But, I have to disclose to everyone interested that he contacted me on Sunday morning as soon as he noticed that the article had been published. He insisted that I understand that he was not making an attack specifically on the other candidates in the VA5th GOP nomination race. He said his comments where taken out of context. I understand that some will not consider that LaCivita could possibly be telling the truth, but I will leave that up to the reader to decide. He told me he had been misquoted and that his remarks were meant in the context of what is going on in congressional districts across the country. The following is what he told me was his exact quote:

“With as many people running (not just in VA 5 but nationally) is an

indication that the “Party” (GOP) is alive and thriving, when just a year

ago it was written off as dead –

That having this many people running was a good thing – not a bad thing -and

everyone who is running believes they can make a difference – but that you

do get some folks who if you can walk and chew gum at same time, think they

can be member of congress.”

Chris LaCivita has been in the business of politics for a long time. His claim to fame is that he was the man behind the media campaign that allowed the Swiftboat Veterans to reveal the truth about John Kerry. Not a bad claim, and he was involved with the election of Ken Cuccinelli. Although, he may not be too popular among the TEA Party crowd since he is working for Robert Hurt, he certainly has some bona fides as a conservative politico. This leads me to my next point of looking deeper.

My personal political experience, including dealing with the media, has come at me like a tsunami over the last few months as I took on the role as the Lynchburg Area TEA Party Chairman, and being the organizer of the VA5th District TEA Party debates. This little bit of national attention has been an education as to what really goes on in our media. I have had a couple of interviews with the Washington Post, and some local papers, as well as some local TV stations, and I can attest to the fact that my comments were not taken in context. My comments were taken and used to fit what they wanted to say. It is quite apparent to me that the media is already working to do several things in our local race, and we should all be aware of them.

First, I believe that the national media is making great efforts to have VA5 turn into the next NY23. Need to sell some papers. Secondly, and much more sinister, I believe that the national media is invested in supporting the leftist socialist agenda, and will twist whatever words they need to twist, or confuse context, to achieve this goal. As I see it, the goal of many in the media is to drive a wedge between the conservative factions. The GOP has grassroots conservatives, many opposed to the RINO’s in leadership positions, some are TEA Party folk, and some are not. However, for the socialist democrats to win in districts like VA5 they must drive the wedges deep into the body of conservative voters. This is basic to winning any political contest. Divide and conquer. For little Tommy-boy Pelosi-ello to have a chance of re-election this year the shattering of conservative unity is a must. We have a long time to go before November, and we need to be aware that this is going to happen. This nomination process is a fight that needs to take place to determine who best represents the conservative values of this district, and then defeat lil’Tommy, the puppet of Pelosi, Obama and Soros.

The Tea Party groups in the fifth district are holding a series of debates in the fifth. Learn more by doing a search for “debate” in this website.

http://www.mcpaddenforcongress.com

http://www.ronferrinforcongress.org

http://www.vergaforcongress.com

http://www.kenboydforcongress.com

http://www.fedaforcongress.com

http://www.mckelveyforcongress.com

http://www.roberthurtforcongress.com

Now Senator Hurt has stated he will not participate in the debates, even though he personally gave his word to the 5th District tea parties and confirmed his participation with a local tv station only 24 hours ago for the January 23 debate! This date was specifically picked in order to facilitate Hurt’s General Assembly session.

It seems that Senator Hurt and his consultant, Chris LaCivita, are determined to have a repeat of NY-23 if they continue to lock out the participation of the grassroots and tea party. Please see the press release below from Mark Lloyd, Vice-Chair of the Virginia Tea Party Patriots Federation.

Tea Party Patriots of the Virginia 5th District “Very Disappointed”

with Senator Hurt’s “Snub” of Charlottesville Debate

Lynchburg, Va. – Lynchburg Tea Party activists are disappointed that Republican candidate for Virginia’s 5th Congressional District, State Senator Robert Hurt, has cancelled his appearance at the first of three Tea Party Debates in Charlottesville, VA.

“Mr. Hurt gave me a commitment on the phone just after Thanksgiving,” said Mark Lloyd of the Lynchburg Tea Party, and organizer of the VA 5th District Tea Party Debates.

“We had a pleasant conversation and checked the calendar together,” Lloyd explained, adding, “Mr. Hurt told me that date should work since it was early in the legislative session, that things would get difficult for him after that. We agreed to hold the first of the three Tea Party Debates in Charlottesville so Mr. Hurt would be able to travel from Richmond easily. I really thought we had a deal. We’re very disappointed in his decision.”

Lloyd said his group had “worked really hard to create a public forum for the candidates to lay out their vision for the voters in the 5th district.”

Lloyd continued, “We regret that Mr. Hurt won’t be there to explain his positions on the issues — especially his controversial tax votes in Richmond that so many of our members are concerned about. We will have an open chair for him, just in case he can work us into his schedule.”

In 2004, Robert Hurt voted to increase taxes $1.5 billion in Virginia, and was only one of 15 Republican state delegates to vote in favor of it, joining every Democrat in the legislature.

Lloyd held out hope that Hurt would attend future debates. Lloyd said, “I hope that he will make himself available for the debates in Lynchburg in February and Southside in March. I guess we’ll just have to see. The campaign does know of these following debates.”

Lloyd said the dates and times for the upcoming debates would be announced shortly, saying he still wanted to work with all candidates to find mutual availability.

Roger Schweikert of the Jefferson Area Tea Party of Charlottesville, said “Virginians, like people for all across the country are tired of this sort of game playing from professional politicians.”

“Mr. Hurt is making a mistake. The Tea Party movement is growing in the 5th district and all over the country, and to not make himself available may really hurt him in the upcoming primary and election,” said Nigel Coleman of the Danville Tea Party Patriots.

For immediate Release

December 3, 2009

Contact Mark Lloyd: email: mklloydva@earthlink.net

The VA5th District Tea Parties to sponsor three debates for GOP candidates, Call for District convention rather than primary election

LYNCHBURG, Va. — The three major Tea Party organizations in the 5th Congressional District will sponsor three debates for candidates seeking the Republication nomination to run against U.S. Rep. Thomas Perriello, D-Ivy.

The tea party leaders are also calling for the GOP to hold a district convention to elect the party’s nominee, rather than a primary election.

The debates will be schedule from January to March next year in Charlottesville, Lynchburg, and the Danville/Martinsville area preceding the anticipated 5th District Republican Convention, according to Mark Lloyd, Lynchburg Tea Party Leader.

“We don’t have the debate locations and dates firmed up yet, but we have commitments from six of the seven candidates who are competing,” said Lloyd. “In coming weeks we will nail down the details with the campaign organizations. Our intent to make the process fair and accessible to all viable candidates and give them the opportunity to prove themselves to the citizens of the 5th district.”

Lloyd said the Tea Party members are rather independent, and most are unwilling to say they are members of the GOP, or the Democrat party. “Any survey of the tea party movement will show we are usually as unsatisfied with the Republicans as we are with the Democrats. Nevertheless, as Americans we intend to make our voices heard and we intend to be part of the political process.”

“For obvious reasons we never again want our representation assigned to us from Washington D.C. party elites, with the same old party-favorite, next-in-line, mentality,” Lloyd added. “Tom Perriello must be replaced by a candidate that truly represents our district.”

Nigel Coleman, Danville Area Tea Party leader said “During the next election season people will see the growth of the Tea Party movement and its effect on the political landscape.”

Bill Hay, of the Charlottesville-based Jefferson Area Tea Party, said: “It’s so very important that the grass roots tea party patriots have a role in making this critical choice. We want someone who truly represents us.”

Lloyd said the tea party leaders favor electing the GOP nominee in a convention rather than a primary to eliminate the likelihood of cross-over votes by Democrats seeking to influence the outcome. “In a convention setting the only people who can vote are registered members
of the party. We believe this process will lead to a cleaner election across the board.”