AFP Texas “Defending the American Dream Summit”
Friday and Saturday July 2-3, 2010, Renaissance Hotel, Austin TX
My Perspective – by Poor Richard
What an event! What a weekend! We have to pay homage and salute Peggy Venable and AFP Texas for putting on an outstanding presentation and bringing in such a great group of speakers and teachers to the Texas DAD Summit.
***** BIG NEWS! RAMPARTS360 WINS TEXAS BLOGGER OF THE YEAR!
I’m also very pleased to report to you that Ramparts360 won the prestigious AFP Texas “Blogger of the Year” award. Congratulations to Sibyl West for all her hard work in making Ramparts360 the best web blogsite in Texas for original commentary, news and content on the federal, state and local levels. Thank you to AFP Texas and thanks to our fans for your support. E-mail a friend and spread the word!
Our good friend, Heather Liggett at AustinTeaParty.com also won an AFP Texas Watchdog award for all her hard work. Check her out at http://austinreteaparty.com/default.aspx.
Ramparts/Bargain Citizen Media was also an exhibitor at the weekend conference. Though we were not able to attend all the seminars going on downstairs, we did get to a few of them. The reports we received from attendees said they were all a resounding success.
Day 1: Friday evening – Governor Rick Perry made a great speech in which he focused on Texas’ financial success and stability. He pointed out the obvious, that Texas, which leads the nation with half of all new jobs created in 2009 and to day, should be the model on how to Do It Right. He also emphasized that this success came from several things including planning ahead with the Rainy Day Fund, and limiting the role of government to the basic functions. The focus was something very simple, and very Texas. Bring ‘Common Sense’ back to Washington. YouTube link.
- Don’t spend all the money;
- Have a tax and regulatory policy that is fair and predictable;
- Put a legal system in place that does not allow for over-suing;
- Fund appropriately, accountable public schools, so you have an educated workforce waiting.
“Then get the hell out of the way, Government, and let the Private Sector do what they do best.”
Ben Streusand (AFP), Steven Crowder (PJTV), Peggy Venable (AFP, Texas) and Stephen Moore (Wall Street Journal) rounded out the first evening.
For those of you who don’t yet know Jason Moore, aka Captain Watchdog “Barking on your behalf”, he’s become quite a patriot celebrity here in Texas on KWEL Radio 1070AM, Odessa Texas 5-6 PM live streaming. Jason’s an imposing figure. He’s 6ft6 if he’s an inch and well on the generous side of 250 pounds, he’d make an NFL Lineman envious. He’s a Big Man. He has a great booming voice and has a smile as big as Texas that makes you like him instantly. Jason won the AFP-Texas Lifetime Achievement award although we all agree he’s much too young for such an award. Jason’s got a lot more ahead of him. Jason’s acceptance line was the best of the night when he towered over Peggy Venable and joked, “I’d like to thank all the little people.” Peggy didn’t miss a beat and quickly replied, “We’re supposed to be smaller, Jason. We’re Conservative.”
Day 2 – Saturday morning
Janine Turner (Northern Exposure) led off. She surprised everyone when she appeared as a blonde. Janine is originally from Texas. She’s been an outspoken conservative for years, even though it kept her out of the Hollywood parties. She and her daughter run a website aimed at educating both adults and young people about the Constitution and the Federalist Papers. www.constitutingamerica.org. Janine’s daughter was an even bigger hit with the crowd than Janine was. It’s encouraging and inspiring to see such a sharp young lady blend humor and a very sharp wit with a great knowledge of the Constitution. She was a big hit with the crowd, drawing a standing ovation. It’s safe to say she stole our hearts.
Joe Wurzelbacher (“Joe the Plumber’) came out and talked with us about putting simple common sense back into government. His message? It’s all about integrity and doing our homework. If you don’t know the issues, look it up. If you don’t know the people running, look it up. Don’t rely on the media or anyone else to do your work for you. You check it out until you’re satisfied that you know the facts. When you’re armed with the facts, no one wants to pick a fight with you. When you know the facts, you can pick people of good integrity who will stick by their guns and do what they say.
Michael Williams, Texas Railroad Commissioner came out and wowed the crowd as usual with his intelligence, humor and grasp of the serious issues confronting Texans and the nation. Michael gives a great presentation. He spoke about border security, about energy and about the Gulf oil spill. He will do a great job replacing Kay Bailey Hutchison as Texas Senator to the U.S. Congress. Texas will be in capable hands. You can check our Mike’s positions on his website at http://www.williamsfortexas.com/.
John Fund, (The Wall Street Journal), made a great presentation about the Tea Parties, history and the optimism of the unflappable Gipper, Ronald Reagan. John pointed out that every 16 years since Carter, we’ve seen a cyclical pattern where the GOP mucks up a good thing by not doing what they promised to do, then the Democrats take over by pretending to be centrists. Reagan pointed out they cannot govern from the center. The Unions and Progressives won’t let them. When they govern from the Left, we know they fail, that’s why we’re Conservatives. He also pointed out that the Tea Party is the future. Every 75 years a great generation rises up to confront a great problem facing America. The Tea Parties are that generation. We are that generation. That time is now.
Herman Cain (“The Hermanator”) is the former VP of Pillsbury, Burger King, and then bought Godfather’s Pizza. He has a radio talk show in Atlanta and is a proud Christian. He energized the crowd with his passion and his honesty. He explained Liberal SIN speech where points out that in any conversation with a liberal they will always, always do three things: (1) Shift the subject; (2) Ignore the facts; and (3) Name-call when they lose the argument. I have to admit I’m prejudiced about reporting on Herman Cain. The fact is I really, really like him, and I think anyone who spent 5 minutes with the man would too, so it’s a little hard to be objective. Anyone who is a cancer-survivor, has that much integrity, honesty and humor, and is still a fighter for the American Dream could get my vote for President any day. Are you listening, Herman? Herman’s Website
HermanCain’s radio show on WSB 750AM in Atlanta is also online
****STAY TUNED FOR RAMPARTS EXCLUSIVE VIDEO INTERVIEWS WITH HERMAN CAIN AND JOE THE PLUMBER
Ramparts360 was granted an exclusive one-on-one interview with Herman Cain after the conference. We were also lucky enough to spend a few minutes with Joe the Plumber. Suffice to say it was a great experience for our entire staff. We’ll be getting those interviews up as soon as they’re edited. Stay tuned.
Folks, don’t forget the second installment of the New Revolution Now / Rick Green American Heritage series – The Constitution and Declaration coming up on TUESDAY, JULY 13TH at the Oak Hill Primitive Baptist Church.
AFP did film the DADSummit (#txdad) event, so I suspect clips or a DVD will be available through AFP’s Texas site soon. Our own Bargain Citizen was also there with his trusty video camera and filmed many segments which we’ll make available soon. Look for more exclusive event coverage from Ramparts and Bargain Citizen Media.
For those of you who missed it this year, make plans to meet us there next year. See you then, if not sooner.
– Poor Richard
