#178 - Tea Party 2009

These men Knew what they meant,

and meant what they said.
-Treasured Map "TEA Party" 2009-

"No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth!"


"The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help."


"Man is not free unless government is limited."


"One way to make sure crime doesn't pay would be to let the government run it."


"Government always finds a need for whatever money it gets."


"Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives."


"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."


"Governments tend not to solve problems, only to rearrange them."


"It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first."

-Ronald Reagan, former President 1981-1989

#177 - Tea Party 2009

These men Knew what they meant,
and meant what they said.
-Treasured Map "TEA Party" 2009-

"We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution."
-Abraham Lincoln, former President 1861-1865


"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."
-Theodore Roosevelt, former President 1901-1909


"Those are governed best who are governed least."
-Thomas Jefferson, former President 1801-1809


"The government, which was designed for the people, has got into the hands of the bosses and their employers, the special interests. An invisible empire has been set up above the forms of democracy."
-Woodrow Wilson, former President 1913-1921


"In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm and three or more is a congress."
-John Adams, former President 1797-1801

#176 - Tea Party 2009

These men Knew what they meant,
and meant what they said.
-Treasured Map "TEA Party" 2009-

"It might be more worthwhile if we stopped wringing our hands and started ringing our congressmen."
-Author Unknown

"If people behaved like governments, you'd call the cops."
-Kevin Throop

"When government accepts responsibility for people, then people no longer take responsibility for themselves."
-George Pataki

"If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?"
-Author Unknown

#175 - Tea Party 2009

These men Knew what they meant,
and meant what they said.
-Treasured Map "TEA Party" 2009-

"It is easy to take liberty for granted, when you have never had it taken from you."
-Dick Cheney, former Vice President 2001-2009


"The basis of a democratic state is liberty."
-Aristotle


"Go ahead! Liberty and independence forever."
-Davy Crockett

#174 - Tea Party 2009

These men Knew what they meant,
and meant what they said.
-Treasured Map "TEA Party" 2009-

"By heritage and by choice, the United States of America will make that stand."
-George W. Bush, former President 2001-2009

"America has never been united by blood or birth or soil. We are bound by ideals that move us beyond our backgrounds, lift us above our interests and teach us what it means to be citizens."
-George W. Bush, former President 2001-2009

#173 - Tea Party 2009

These men Knew what they meant,

and meant what they said.
-Treasured Map "TEA Party" 2009-

"America is too great for small dreams."
-Ronald Reagan, former President 1981-1989


"There is nothing wrong with America that the faith, love of freedom, intelligence and energy of her citizens cannot cure."
-Dwight D. Eisenhower, former President 1953-61


"We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall hang separately."
-Benjamin Franklin

#172 - Tea Party 2009

These men Knew what they meant,

and meant what they said.
-Treasured Map "TEA Party" 2009-

"Liberty has never come from the government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of it. The history of liberty is history of resistance."
-Woodrow Wilson, former President 1913-1921


"Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom."
-John Adams, former President 1797-1801


"A splendid storehouse of integrity and freedom has been bequeathed to us by our forefathers. In this day of confusion, of peril to liberty, our high duty is to see that this storehouse is not robbed of its contents."
-Herbert Hoover, former President 1929-1933

"Absolute freedom of the press to discuss public questions is a foundation stone of American liberty."
-Herbert Hoover, former President 1929-1933

#171 - Tea Party 2009

These men Knew what they meant,
and meant what they said.
-Treasured Map "TEA Party" 2009-

"Did you ever notice that when you put the words "The" and "IRS" together, it spells "THEIRS?"
-Author Unknown


"We have long had death and taxes as the two standards of inevitability. But there are those who believe that death is the preferable of the two. "At least," as one man said, "there's one advantage about death; it doesn't get worse every time Congress meets."
-Erwin N. Griswold


"Income tax returns are the most imaginative fiction being written today."
-Herman Wouk


"Capital punishment: The income tax."
-Jeff Hayes

#170 - Tea Party 2009

These men Knew what they meant,
and meant what they said.
-Treasured Map "TEA Party" 2009-

"The enemy fought with savage fury, and met death with all its horrors, without shrinking or complaining: not one asked to be spared, but fought as long as they could stand or sit."
-Davy Crockett


"I have not yet begun to fight!"
-John Paul Jones


"There is a time for all things, time to preach and a time to pray, but those times has passed away. There is a time to fight, and that time has now come."
-Peter Muhlenberg

#169 - Tea Party 2009

These men Knew what they meant,

and meant what they said.

-Treasured Map "TEA Party" 2009-

"Without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure."

-Ronald Reagan, former President 1981-1989

"The thing that separates the American Christian from every other person on earth is the fact that he would rather die on his feet, than live on his knees!"

-George Washington, former President 1789-1797

#168 - Tea Party 2009

These men Knew what they meant,
and meant what they said.
-Treasured Map "TEA Party" 2009-

"It is also in the interests of a tyrant to keep his people poor, so that they may not be able to afford the cost of protecting themselves by arms and be so occupied with their daily tasks that they have no time for rebellion."

-Aristotle

"The right of self-defense never ceases. It is among the most sacred, and alike necessary to nations and to individuals."

-James Monroe, former President 1817-1825

"There exists a law, not written down anywhere, but in our hearts; a law which comes to us not by training or custom or reading; a law which has come to us not from theory but from practice; not by instruction but by natural intuition: I refer to the law which lays it down that, if our lives are endangered by plots or violence or armed robbers or enemies, any and every method of protecting ourselves is morally right."

-Marcus Tullius Cicero

#167 - Tea Party 2009

These men Knew what they meant,

and meant what they said.

-Treasured Map "TEA Party" 2009-

"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine





"In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved."
-Franklin D. Roosevelt, former President 1933-1945




"Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves."
-Abraham Lincoln, former President 1861-1865

#166 - Tea Party 2009

These men Knew what they meant,
and meant what they said.
-Treasured Map "TEA Party" 2009-

"Death and taxes may be inevitable, but they shouldn't be related."
- J.C. Watts, Jr.


"The best things in life are free, but sooner or later the government will find a way to tax them."
-Author Unknown


"If you make any money, the government shoves you in the creek once a year with it in your pockets, and all that don't get wet you can keep."
- Will Rogers

#165 - Tea Party 2009

These men Knew what they meant,

and meant what they said.

-Treasured Map "TEA Party" 2009-

"I have never advocated war except as a means of peace."

-Ulysses S. Grant, former President 1869-1877

"Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong."

-Ronald Reagan, former President 1981-1989

"To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace."

-George Washington, former President 1789-1797

"We will bring the terrorists to justice; or we will bring justice to the terrorists. Either way, justice will be done."

-George W. Bush, former President 2001-2009

#164 - Tea Party 2009

These men Knew what they meant,

and meant what they said.

-Treasured Map "TEA Party" 2009-

"Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom."
- Albert Einstein








"Freedom is the last, best hope of earth."
- Abraham Lincoln, former President 1861-1865







"Freedom is the right to live as we wish."
-Epictetus

#163 - Tea Party 2009

These men Knew what they meant,

and meant what they said.

-Treasured Map "TEA Party" 2009-

"My kind of loyalty was loyalty to one's county, not to its institutions or its officeholders. The country is the real thing, the substantial thing, the eternal thing; it is the thing to watch over, and care for, and be loyal to; institutions are extraneous, they are its mere clothing, and clothing can wear out, become ragged, cease to be comfortable, cease to protect the body from winter, disease, and death."

- Mark Twain

"America has never been an empire. We may be the only great power in history that had the chance, and refused - preferring greatness to power and justice to glory."

-George W. Bush, former President 2001-2009

"Honest conviction is my courage; the Constitution is my guide."

-Andrew Johnson, former President 1865-1869

#162 - Tea Party 2009

These men Knew what they meant,

and meant what they said.

-Treasured Map "TEA Party" 2009-

"Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are ruined."
- Patrick Henry





"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty or safety."
-Benjamin Franklin





"History Teaches us that grave threats to liberty often come in times of urgency, when constitutional rights seem too extravagant to endure."
- Thurgood Marshall, Supreme Court Justice

#161 - Tea Party 2009

These men Knew what they meant,

and meant what they said.

-Treasured Map "TEA Party" 2009-

"We have the right as individuals to give away as much of our own money as we please in charity; but as members of Congress we have no right to appropriate a dollar of the public money."

-Davey Crockett

"Congress is so strange. A man gets up to speak and says nothing. Nobody listens - and then everybody disagrees."

-Boris Marshalov

"Ancient Rome declined because it had a Senate, now what's going to happen to us with both a House and Senate?"

- Will Rogers

#160 - Tea Party 2009

These men Knew what they meant,

and meant what they said.

-Treasured Map "TEA Party" 2009-

"The purpose of a tax cut is to leave more money where it belongs; in the hands of the working men and working women who earned it in the first place."
-Bob Dole

"Congress can raise taxes because it can persuade a sizable fraction of the populace that somebody else will pay."
-Milton Friedman

"Unquestionably, there is progress. The average American now pays out twice as much in taxes as he formerly got in wages."
- H.L. Mencken

#159 - Tea Party 2009

These men Knew what they meant,
and meant what they said.
-Treasured Map "TEA Party" 2009-

"We are never defeated unless we give up on God."

-Ronald Reagan, former President 1981-1989

"Work as if you were to live 100 years. Pray as if you were to die tomorrow."

-Benjamin Franklin

#158 - Tea Party 2009

These men Knew what they meant,
and meant what they said.
-Treasured Map "TEA Party" 2009-

"Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth."

-George Washington, former President 1789-1787

"America is best described by one word, freedom."

-Dwight D. Eisenhower, former President 1953-1961

#157 - Tea Party 2009

These men Knew what they meant,
and meant what they said.
-Treasured Map "TEA Party" 2009-

"You can not stop the spread of an idea by passing a law against it."

-Harry Truman, former President 1945-1953

"We need not fear the expression of ideas- we do need to fear their suppression."

-Harry Truman, former President 1945-1953

#156 - Tea Party 2009

These men Knew what they meant,
and meant what they said.
-Treasured Map "TEA Party" 2009-

"For more than half a century, during which kingdoms and empires have fallen, this Union has stood unshaken. The patriots who formed it have long since descended to the grave; yet it still remains, the proudest monument to their memory..."
-Zachary Taylor, former President 1849-1850

#155 - Tea Party 2009

These men Knew what they meant,
and meant what they said.
-Treasured Map "TEA Party" 2009-

"I shall never use profanity except in discussing house rent and taxes."

-Mark Twain

#154 - Tea Party 2009

These men Knew what they meant,

and meant what they said.

-Treasured Map "TEA Party" 2009-

"Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide."
-Napoleon Bonaparte


"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."
- Thomas Jefferson, former President 1801-1809


"The United States is a nation of laws: badly written and randomly enforced."
- Frank Zappa

#153 - Tea Party 2009

-Treasured Map "TEA Party" 2009-

If George W. Bush had made a joke at the expense of the Special Olympics, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had given Tony Blair a set of inexpensive and useless (to Tony Blair’s UK video formatting) DVDs, when Tony Blair had given him a thoughtful and historically significant gift, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had given the Queen of England an iPod containing videos of his speeches, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had visited Austria and made reference to the non-existent "Austrian language," would you have brushed it off as a minor slip?

If George W. Bush had filled his cabinet and circle of advisers with people who cannot seem to keep current on their income taxes, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had ordered the firing of the CEO of a major corporation, even though he had no constitutional authority to do so, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had proposed to double the national debt, which had taken more than two centuries to accumulate, in one year, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had then proposed to double the debt again within 10 years, would you have approved?

So, tell me again, what is it about Obama that makes him so brilliant and impressive? Can’t think of anything? Don’t worry. He’s done all this in 10 weeks -- so you’ll have three years and nine-and-a-half months to come up with an answer.

#152 - Tea Party 2009

These men Knew what they meant,
and meant what they said.
-Treasured Map "TEA Party" 2009-

"If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under."
-Ronald Reagan, former President 1981-89



"America will never run...And we will always be grateful that liberty has found such brave defenders."
- George W. Bush, former President 2001-09



"A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have."
- Gerald Ford, former President 1974-77

#151 - Tea Party 2009

These men Knew what they meant,
and meant what they said.
-Treasured Map "TEA Party" 2009-

"The goal to strive for is a poor government but a rich people."
- Andrew Johnson, former President 1865-69

"He that goes a borrowing goes a sorrowing."
- Benjamin Franklin

"If anyone tells you that America's best days are behind her, they're looking the wrong way."
- George H. W. Bush, former President 1989-1993

#150 - Tea Party 2009

These men Knew what they meant,
and meant what they said.
-Treasured Map "TEA Party" 2009-

"Where liberty dwells, there is my country."
- Ben Franklin


"The possession of arms by the people is the ultimate warrant that government governs only with the consent of the governed."
- Jeff Snyder


"Alexander Hamilton started the U.S. Treasury with nothing and that was the closest our country has ever been to being even."
- Will Rogers

#149 - Tea Party 2009

These men Knew what they meant,
and meant what they said.
-Treasured Map "TEA Party" 2009-

"You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot bring about prosperity by discounting thrift. You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence. You cannot help the people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves."
- Abraham Lincoln, former President 1861-65


"I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle."
- Winston Churchill, former Prime Minister of Great Britain


"Republicans believe that every day is the Fourth of July, but the democrats believe that every day is April 15th."
- Ronald Reagan, former President 1981-89

#148 - TEA Party

Recently all across the country Americans who were sick and tired of excessive taxes and the direction President Obama is leading this country decided to take a stand. They wanted their voices heard, loud and clear. So they gathered in cities all over the US to protest. They called it "Tea Parties," Tea standing for Taxed Enough Already.

I'll be quite honest. I did not vote for Mr. Obama. I do not believe in his policies, his agenda, or him. I do not agree with much of anything he has done as President in his first 100 days in office, and I am tired of him blaming all of our problems on his predecessor instead of taking ownership of what he is responsible for. I do believe that we are now less safe then we were before he arrived, and for the first time in my life that I can remember, I am afraid for America's future.

Most of all I am angry about the enormous amount of debt that this President (and a Democratic run Congress) is piling on this country. I am angry because my kids, Turner and Jaxson, are now saddled with this incomprehensible number of dollars. My kids deserve a better America than I had, I think we owe that to all our children.

I really wanted to be out there with all the other protesters on the Tea Party day. I too wanted my representatives to hear my voice of displeasure with the job we have entrusted to them. I wanted to be out there for my kids. Unfortunately I could not be out there on the front lines, I had to work when the protests were happening during the day.

So because I could not participate on the actual day, I decided to change up my blog format for the next month. This is my own personal Tea Party. This is for Turner and Jaxson.

If you follow my blog at all you know that this is all geared towards my sons. These are my words of wisdom for them, so they can grow up to be strong, wise, Godly men. I had a recent post that said: "Pay attention to the teachable moments in life." Well boys, the times we are living in right now are a teachable moment for you.

The American people voted for "Change" in the 2008 Presidential election, and change is what they are getting. Although after the first 100 days in office for this President many voters have buyers remorse. This is a mistake that I don't want you to repeat.

The next month will be dedicated to teaching Turner and Jaxson about America, Freedom, Taxes, Government, War, Rights, Liberty, Patriotism, and much more. This is our Tea Party.