Here is the CLTP press release that includes the additional questions our Tea Party was asked back in 2010.  Notice the dates - this has been going on a lot longer than the IRS initially admitted.  This intel gathering activity by the IRS spanned both the mid-term elections in 2010 and the elections in 2012.  Also notice that while they sat on our application for 8 months, they expected us to return all the information they required in two weeks!  

The IRS demanded an unprecedented level of detail: future event plans and projections, personal resumes, personal info, thought processes, all printed material, social media, qualifications of speakers, our relation to other local grassroots groups, etc all had to be provided in excruciating detail.  Strangely enough, they wanted to know all our future plans too, including topics, speakers, and more!  Heaven forbid we inadvertently omit something, or we would be subject to federal prosecution.  

We did not move forward with the application due to the severe nature of the invasion of privacy, and the distinct suspicion that we were being set up for federal prosecution.

I was invited to do a 50 minute segment on 1070AM on the Mark McCaig Show. Seriously, I get really tired of hearing my own voice! But many thanks to Mark for the great conversation. :)

Here's Mark's synopsis of the segment:

This week on the Mark McCaig show, Mark was joined by League City Councilwoman Heidi Theiss. Mark and Heidi (who works in the firearms industry) discussed the recent NRA convention in Houston and the Obama administration’s attack on second amendment rights. Mark and Heidi also discussed how conservatives can and should become engaged on the local level and how the grassroots can impact local and school board elections.

Link to audio here.

The CCISD School Board and Bond Elections are happening right now!  Considering that a lion's share of your property taxes go to CCISD, you need to take 10 minutes and have your say in the election.  Speak now or hold your peace.  You can't complain about your property taxes if you don't take the time to vote.

CCISD Voting locations are listed here, for your convenience.  
 

Other towns and  cities around us are having their City Council elections right now.  The closer your elected officials are to you, the more important your vote is!  Don't let another City Council election slip by without casting a vote.

"Local government has an enormous impact on people's everyday lives, and on the services that people have the most contact with," says Sarah Elkind, a professor of political history at San Diego State University and the author of the book How Local Politics Shape Federal Policy.

"If you think about what government provides on a day-to-day basis -- schools, transit, water supply, waste and sewage disposal, public health surveys of restaurants, fire, police -- those things are mostly provided by local government. And if those services are not adequate people have to supplement out of their own pocket."

Please get to know and consider voting for Mike Robertson in Taylor Lake Village (he also has a very informative blog here) and Bruce Henderson in Dickinson (here is a candidate profile at GDN).  I know them both personally and believe they will do their very best to serve your interests on Council. 

I've been following the horrifying and heartbreaking story of Kermit Gosnell and the abortuary/baby charnel house in Philadelphia. It is truly descriptive of inhumanity at it's most depraved and evil. It's one of those cases that nobody wants to face because of the mirror it holds up to the abortion industry and the monsters that populate it. So to soothe my soul from the incessant horror of the Gosnell trial, I went to our local pregnancy counseling center to remind myself the opposite side of the issue - to meet those angels who gently love on those troubled mothers and by showing love and compassion, save their lives and those of their unborn children. 

Anchor Point is a lovely place, calm and soothing, and it smells of all the gifts and joys of babyhood. :) It was a balm to visit with the women who work so selflessly for those girls and those babies. It was humane and decent and loving. I want to do everything I can to support their cause - the cause of life. I posted a link to their upcoming benefit concert above and ask you to please consider attending. Please "like" their Facebook page so you, too, can keep up with their activities. And get involved in being part of the SOLUTION. 

They are angels over there and God is using them to help save lives. Their wall of smiling baby photos is a quiet and sweet testament of the triumph of life over death, and of love over fear and despair.

As a licensed federal firearms dealer, I would like to correct the common misperception that gun dealers are not required to conduct background checks at gun shows.  We ARE. It is federal law everywhere in the U.S.  If you were to attend a gun show, you will see an area dedicated to people filling out forms and dealers calling the FBI for a NICS (National Instant Criminal Background Check System) check.  We then will get a code number and an order to PROCEED, DENY, or DELAY the transaction.  The forms (4473) are subject to surprise audits by the ATF at any time and they will rigorously audit you down to your choice of pen color with all the enthusiasm that only a government bureaucrat can muster. It is not unusual for an ATF audit to take 3-4 days (unless you're an ATF approved operative selling guns to the drug cartels in Mexico, of course).  

With several huge issues lined up on the ballot, the room was packed for the March 26th City Council meeting, thanks to folks heeding the call for their attendance and input.  

The first big item on the agenda was my Resolution to Preserve Civil Liberties in League City (also known as the anti-NDAA Resolution).  A summary from Guidry News on the result of the anti-NDAA resolution vote:

The city council voted 7-1, with OKeeffe opposed to approve a resolution “to preserve habeas corpus and civil liberties within the City of League City”. Listen (12:26)

OKeeffe said the resolution, in reaction to threats to civil liberties emanating from Washington, is not a proper topic for the city council’s deliberation.

“Our primary responsibility is adopting a budget,” OKeeffe said.

“We took an oath to uphold the Constitution,” said Thiess, who made the motion for the resolution.  “That’s exactly what this is doing, to defend and uphold the Constitution.  I will be voting yes on this.”

Published on Mar 16, 2012
KrisAnneHall.com

KrisAnne Hall's Bio:

KrisAnne Hall is an attorney and former prosecutor, fired after teaching the Constitution to TEA Party groups - she would not sacrifice liberty for a paycheck. She is a disabled veteran of the US Army, a Russian linguist, a mother, a pastor's wife and a patriot. She now travels the country and teaches the Constitution and the history that gave us our founding documents.

34 minute video below. 

I remember how nervous I was  to get up and speak at City Council.  So I want to take some of the uncertainty out of the process in hopes of encouraging more people to get engaged locally.

First of all, League City has semi-monthly Council Meetings on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month at 300 W. Walker in League City.  The meetings are public and subject to the Texas Open Meetings Act, and so the notices are posted in the newspaper, online at www.leaguecity.com, and outside City Hall. The agenda is also public and published the week before.  You can access it here (bookmark that link for easy access next time).  Click on the agenda link, and you will find all the data sheets and supporting documents for every item on the agenda.

The Monday night before a City Council meeting is when we have our Work Sessions, and the pubic is welcome there too.  This is a more informal meeting when we go over the agenda for Tuesday and can ask questions of City Staff, open topics up for discussion, and get further details not included in the data sheets.  No actions are taken during the Monday Work Sessions, it's all about information.

The City Council meetings are called to order promptly at 6:00 PM on Tuesday.  If you intend to speak during the CITIZENS REQUEST FOR HEARING BEFORE CITY COUNCIL, please arrive at the Council Chambers a little early to get your name on the speakers list which is always near the City Secretary at the dais.  She will then pass this list to the Mayor, and you will be called in order during that part of the Agenda.  Below are the parameters for public comments:

The privilege of speaking at this time is limited to the following persons: residents, persons having an ownership interest in property or a business located within the City, or their attorneys.

A statement of no more than 3 minutes may be made on items of general relevance. There will be no yielding of time to another person. State law prohibits the Mayor and members of the City Council from commenting on any statement or engaging in dialogue without an appropriate agenda item being posted in accordance with the Texas Open Meetings Law. Comments should be directed to the entire Council, not individual members. Engaging in verbal attacks or comments intended to insult, abuse, malign or slander any individual shall be cause for termination of time privileges and expulsion from Council Chambers. 

The public speaks from a podium to the right of the dais.  That way you can speak both to the audience in the Chambers as well as the Council Members.  Please note that we cannot respond, so don't expect feedback.  This is about US listening to YOU, not the other way around.  Please introduce yourself at the beginning, stating your name and address for the record.

There is usually a timer and light that will warn you when you have 30 seconds left, and then will indicate when your 3 minutes is up.  It is perfectly acceptable to use notes, read from a prepared speech, or speak extemporaneously - whatever you are most comfortable with.  It doesn't matter as long as you get your point across.  We WANT to hear from you, and so your comments ARE welcome!

If you arrive late, and your name is not on the City Secretary's speakers list, don't worry, the Mayor usually will ask if there is anyone else who would like to say something.  That's your chance to jump in.  This is especially useful if you were there to observe, but heard something said in public comment that you would like to add to, support, or disagree with.

A lot of folks stop by the City Council meeting on their war home from work or on their way to other obligations and cannot stay for the entire length of the City Council meeting.  Don't feel awkward if you need to leave after you've said your piece.  However, if you are there about a certain agenda item, I highly recommend that you stay to see it through the vote.  Your presence is your accountability mechanism. If a large number of people are there to weigh in an a particularly important topic, then we try and move that item up on the agenda so that we can vote sooner rather than later, to respect the time of the citizens who are there.

I hope this has helped you so that you feel more comfortable getting involved locally.  I really want to encourage your input and let you know how necessary you are to the process of self-government.  

Your compatriot,

~Heidi

As a man is said to have a right to his property, he may be equally said to have a property in his rights. Where an excess of power prevails, property of no sort is duly respected. No man is safe in his opinions, his person, his faculties, or his possessions.

James Madison, National Gazette Essay, March 27, 1792

I need you to show up at City Council TOMORROW NIGHT, March 26th, at 6pm. We have some gravely important issues we need your help to pass: 1) Liberty Preservation Resolution (anti-NDAA indefinite detention provisions); 2) Transparency and Accountability ordinance to provide internal auditing of city contract, money, and processes; and 3) Gun and ammo allocations for our LCPD. 

Don't just TALK...DO! Action at the local level has a HUGE impact that is immediate. 

As the cool and deliberate sense of the community ought in all governments, and actually will in all free governments ultimately prevail over the views of its rulers; so there are particular moments in public affairs, when the people stimulated by some irregular passion, or some illicit advantage, or misled by the artful misrepresentations of interested men, may call for measures which they themselves will afterwards be the most ready to lament and condemn. In these critical moments, how salutary will be the interference of some temperate and respectable body of citizens, in order to check the misguided career, and to suspend the blow mediated by the people against themselves, until reason, justice and truth, can regain their authority over the public mind?

James Madison (likely), Federalist No. 63, 1788

I am calling upon YOU to join me and be part of the "temperate and respectable body of citizens" to stand strong and CHECK the unconstitutional madness of a federal government out of control.