LowCountry 9.12 Project Meeting Minutes

Called to order by Linda Ensor.
Bill Hanna opened with prayer; he led Pledge of Allegiance; asked for volunteers who wish to pray for future meetings.
–Holiday Inn Express will the permanent meeting place.
–Principle # 2: “I believe in God and He is the Creator of my life.”, briefly presented by Bill Hanna reminding everyone of 12 Values/9 Principles on which LowCountry 9.12 Project is based.  A Principle or Value will be presented at each meeting.
–New officerʼs voted on and approved.
President: Linda Ensor
First Vice President: Carol Emory
Second Vice President: Bill Hanna
Secretary: JoAnn Helms
Treasurer: Bob Peeples

Fundraising: Steve and Judy Anderson; (need volunteers)

Treasurerʼs report by Bob Peeples, read/approved.

Update re: The law suit has been resolved.
–John Steinberger Presented his book and spoke re: Whatʼs Fair about the Fair Tax? It offers 300 tax exemptions! Used cars would not be taxed. Educate yourself by the following:
How can you help?
*Sign up for eNewsletter at SCFairTax.org;
*Make a contribution;
*Become a fan on Facebook;
*Write a letter to Post and Courier– letters@postandcourier.com;
*Ask for Gov. Haleyʼs support– http://www.governor.sc.gov or call 803.734.2100
*Ask for Bobby Harrellʼs support at 572.1500
*Contact Brian White–sc.gov Ways and Means Committee
*Contact Larry Grooms
–Update Reports on:
1. Myrtle Beach Tea Party Convention; Jeff Reeves said it was a great meeting at low cost to attendees. Encouraged everyone plan to attend next time.
2. Sheriff Mack; Kendra informed everyone about the importance of the involvement of the local sheriff in issues and for us to educate ourselves at http://www.sheriffmack.com.

Vote on 2 Bills: a. H4128 Sound Money Bill; b. #3490 Enforcement International Law. She explained Jasper Industrial Park regarding the I-95 Corridor and the land and counties the Federal Government would engulf if the bill had passed.
3. “Stopping the I-95 Corridor Authority”: Importance of involvement in issues affecting our communities and lives. The bill was not passed but anticipate it will resurface and we will
need to be diligent in our efforts in the future. Angie Crum opened a discussion as to why 9.12
is opposed to the Bill to which she feels has so much merit for the Corridor of Shame and the
people who live there. Kendra explained reasons as to why we opposed the bill.
” 4. Linda Ensor and Debbie Jones described their trip to Columbia to see elected
officials in action ( or not). They encouraged others to go to see their Congressional leaders. 5. School choice handouts, T-shirts by Freedom Works.
–Bill Hanna has volunteered to handle the DVD and Book library for members use. Materials can be checked out for 1 month.
–Cheryl Fennell: Tim Scott will hold a Constituents Meeting on March 13, from 12-2 PM.
–Arthur LaBruce: short brief of ETVʼs , “Underground Railroad” program.
–Visitor, Janet Frisco presented “Threats Against Religious Liberty” and Administrationʼs assault
on the Catholic Church. Visit http://www.usctv.org/conscious for details.

UPCOMING:
March 6 — TBA
April 3 — General James E. Livingston, Ret.
– State Attorney General Allen Wilson: on the NLRB, voter ID, etc.
May 1 — Eric Lethco, Pastor, Old Fort Baptist Church: A Comparison of the Bible to the “
Koran
Feb. 11– Activist Training Session by the American Majority
” $25.00 per person (includes lunch)
City of Hanahan Council Chambers—9 am to 3 pm. Sponsored by the Goose “
” Creek 9.12 Project
Feb. 20- April 30 — Constitution 101 (the meaning and history of the Constitution). Free “
” online class by Hilldale College! http://www.hillsdaleoffer/constitution101.
Agenda 21: An action plan of the United Nations that promotes sustainable development and
the redistribution of wealth. It is a comprehensive blueprint fo action that is being implemented globally and locally. Watch for words sustainable, green, etc.
ICLEI USA : is the leading membership association of cities and counties committed to climate protection, clean energy, and sustainability. SC members; Charleston, Sumter, Greenville

             The January meeting of the Lowcountry 9/12 Project was held on Tuesday, January 3, 2012  at Holiday Inn Express, Summerville, SC.  There were approximately 55 people attending.  Members were treated to coffee, ice water, and apple cobbler.  Linda Ensor called the meeting to order.  Bill Hanna led the group in a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.

Linda Ensor explained that the original plan for a discussion of “Our Region/Our Plan” with Larry Hargett and Rob Durbin had to be cancelled.

Bob Peeples gave a treasury report and promised a detailed year-end report at the February meeting.  Bob spoke on the Principles and Values.

Representatives with the campaigns of Newt Gingrich, Michelle Bachmann, Ron Paul, and Mitt Romney were present to answer questions.  Wiley Johnson cautioned them to give short answers, no speeches.  Many questions were posed from members of the group.  After the question and answer session, a straw poll was conducted, resulting in a three-way tie for first place between Bachmann, Gingrich, and Paul.  Rick Santorum received most of the 2^nd choice votes.

Linda Ensor reported on a meeting with Representatives Jenny Horne and Chris Murphy concerning the I-95 Corridor Authority.  Linda felt that they had made up their minds and would not listen to other views.

Howard Bridgeman and Kendra Linkowski conducted a brief survey to find out what members want from this organization.  Results indicated that most members desire information, education, and fellowship.

The topic for the February 7 meeting will be FairTax and will include election of officers.  With no further business, the meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,   Gwen Peeples, acting secretary

The Our Region/Our Plan discussion with Larry Hargett and Rob Durbin has had to be postponed (County Council moved to Tuesday night for Larry and a death in the family for Rob).  Don’t worry, though; we’ll have an excellent program on the I-95 Corridor Authority and other issues.

The November meeting of the Lowcountry 9-12 Project was held on Tuesday, November 1, 2011.  Dana Eiser-Bertoluzzi opened the meeting and welcomed those attending.  There were 67 present.  Jerry Zeigler invited members and guests to attend the Agenda 21 meeting on November 9 at the Oasis Grill.

Guest speakers  were Larry Kobrovsky, member of the State School Board (on left), and Dr. Mick Zais (right), State Superintendant of Education.  Mr. Kobrovsky explained that the state board is made up of 16 members, one  appointed from each judicial district. 

Dr. Zais explained his values and beliefs:

• Poor children can learn
• No child should be forced to attend a failing school.
• More money and smaller classes don’t work.

He believes the key to better education is the ability to read by third grade.  He believes that education should not be a “one size fits all,” but parents should have options from which to choose.  School boards should not be involved in hiring.  Teachers need the ability to maintain discipline in the classroom.  He believes in pay for performance for teachers.  He believes that the IB program presents a world view without teaching American exceptionalism.

After a question-and- answer period and input from members on the I-95 Corridor Authority and Agenda 21, the meeting was adjourned.

In the meantime, our President was hard at work behind the scenes (where he seems to do his best work), issuing executive order #94: the creation of the Office of Diversity.  It reads:

“By this order, I am directing executive departments and agencies to develop and implement a more comprehensive, integrated, and strategic focus on diversity and inclusion as a key component of their human resources strategies.”

Apparently, since the President was successful in firing the CEO of General Motors, he is now going to take on all the Human Resources Departments across America.  Hiring the best candidate for the job is already difficult; it’s about to become far more so.

According to The New American’s website (see below), “Besides the obvious lack of constitutional authority for the federal government to engage in such a task, some observers are wondering why the federal government appears more concerned by the ethnicity or race of those who work for it than for the capabilities and qualifications of those workers.”

Apparently Mr. Obama heard Maxine Waters’ criticism and is taking it seriously.

It will be frightening to see what other plans he will roll out between now and November 2012.  We can only pray that some reporter, somewhere, will pick up on them, but the constant distractions of debt ceilings, hurricanes, and other smoke screens make that appear unlikely.

http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/politics/8763-obama-creates-office-of-diversity-via-executive-order

On Oct. 4, Richard Todd (the morning voice on WTMA) moderated a discussion with four local business people.  The panel analyzed the problems unique to each type of business and where the problems originated.

The panel included Lou Caputo (CEO at Summerville Medical Center), Jack Tupper (Tupperway Tires), George Tupper (builder/realtor), and Chris Bauer (owner of 3 Sweetwater Grille restaurants).

Our other speaker is California political comedian Eric Golub.  A stockbrokerage professional since 1994, Eric began blogging in March 2007, the three-year anniversary of the Madrid bombings and the midpoint of 9/11. He has been inflicting his world view on his unfortunate readers since then.  Eric blogs about politics Monday through Friday, and about football and other human interest items on weekends. The meeting will be at the Berkeley Co-op Building, 2 Springhall Dr., Goose Creek, SC at 7 p.m.

Zais was easily elected on a platform of refusing federal funding because of the many federal mandates attached.  Today South Carolina is the only state that has not applied for the money.  About 50 people picketed outside the office building Monday, angry that South Carolina would not share in the extra $$$ even though we have contributed to it through taxes.

Two of us (Bill Bates from the Goose Creek 9.12 and myself) spoke of the support Dr. Zais has from the LowCountry, Goose Creek and Mt. Pleasant 9/12 Projects as well as the Charleston Tea Party, and thanked him for standing on his principles as he represents us.

Once the board meeting began, however, it was quickly clear that the board was determined to chastise Dr. Zais.  Board member Tim Moore (Aiken) proposed an amendment that will require Dr. Zais to actively search for all outside sources of funding, apply for them, and give the board a regular accounting of his actions toward this end. This was passed.

Phillip Bowers (Seneca) was the only board member (out of 13) who seemed supportive of the Superintendent.  He asked the board to ask themselves whether a different person would be treated in the same way.  He suggested that this was a personal reprimand, and the 5 of us who were watching and really knew nothing about anyone’s backgrounds or politics had to agree that it certainly appeared so.

By the end of the afternoon, we witnessed many proposals put on the floor for approval; Mr. Bowers suggested amendments that seemed to be sensible to us, and no one would even  second them so the amendments could be discussed.  This is clearly a board with problems.

During second reading for approval of the state standards for social studies, Mr. Bowers asked forcefully that the many references to global warming be modified so that it does not read as though global warming is an accepted fact.  There are as many experts who do not believe in global warming as there are those who do, he said.

Bowers also stated that the references that say that the “Constitution is evolving” be stricken, since the Constitution has not changed in 200 years.  Chairman Dr. Gerrita Postlewait noted that the Constitution has been amended.  However, Bowers is correct; the Constitution does not evolve.

We intend to go back next month and speak out on these 2 issues, although I have to say, I felt the negativity in the room, both to ourselves and to Mr. Bowers.  Speaking to him afterwards, Bowers said that he is a Republican in a room full of Democrats in spite of this being a Republican state.  Normally, he said, he has 2 other board members who tend to agree with him.  One of them is our own representative, Larry Kabrovsky, who unfortunately was not there.

In a side note, the board agreed to change references from mentally challenged to intellectually challenged.  Another fine example of time and probably money wasted on a politically correct non-issue.

–Linda, Aug. 18, 2011