Memorial Day 2010

It is not much; it is simply two small United States flags. The entire packet cost me less than a dollar at Target. I walked in on our trip, found them, set them in the basket and bought them along with some other items we desperately needed. Well, okay, I bought them with some other items we wanted. But Sunday afternoon, those two little flags will be important. I’m taking my children to visit their great-granddaddy’s grave and remind them of the others who have served our country.

Granddaddy (as I called him) served in World War Two and was part of “The Greatest Generation”. As the story goes, he went down and volunteered two times to serve and was rejected. After the second time he received a draft notice. He served throughout the war making teeth and working in the medical aspect of the army. My other Grandfather was somewhat more reluctant. He waited until the draft notice came and then joined without hesitation. His story became the thing of legends with five bronze stars, two purple hearts, and participation in Africa, D-day, the Battle of the Bulge and the taking of Germany. They served with honor to ensure that they Constitution, our way of life, and the little flags that will be placed on their graves will always stand apart in the world for freedom.

Since that time, my father served in the navy and all three of my brother-in-laws served in Iraq through the army, navy, and air force. I’m proud of them and thankful for their service to ensure yours and my right to freedom.

As I said before, our children will visit their great-granddaddy’s grave. They will each have the opportunity to place flags on the grave. I will tell them about the service of men and women not only in our family, but around the nation as well. They will basically get one more history lesson this Memorial Day weekend. It won’t all be about trips, days off, and cooking hamburgers. It will be about the people who served. It is my hope that my children will walk away with an appreciation for the freedoms they have and that someday they will teach their children about Memorial Day.

Sadly, as I do this, I have read newspaper reports concerning our President’s planned vacation to Chicago. He will not go to Arlington to honor those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice. According to all reports he will be going to the gym and taking some time off. It’s always nice to be able to take a vacation whenever you want to do so. In fact, the President is one of the few people who can take several vacations a year. But I have to wonder why the leader of our nation chose this weekend to take a vacation and ignore the honor and meaning of Memorial Day. I have to think that when a President does this, maybe he doesn’t value the freedoms, the Constitution, and the flag that these men and women have sacrificed for over the life of our great, free nation known as the United States of America. Hopefully, the gestures of American families all over this great nation will make up for the poor judgment of our President.
(Cartoon from Cox Forkum  Cox Forkum)

The Smoke Clears

Well, as the old saying goes, round one is over in Arkansas.  It’s now time to get on to round two of the battle.  We had a great group of candidates for Congress and the Senate.  Any one of these folks could have served the state well in Washington and against the Democrat’s agenda.

During the campaign season, I had the opportunity to meet several of those running for office.  The one thing I liked the most was that most of the campaigns were positive.  They did not spend a great amount of time bashing each other, but rather they simply focused on talking to voters.  Here in Miller County, several of them even came to committee meetings on the same night and presented their information straightforward.  I think everyone ran great, professional campaigns.

The above being said, it’s time to get busy.  Out of the election night, Beth Anne Rankin and John Boozman emerged as our primary candidates for the November primary.  It’s now time for all the former candidates, each county party, and tea party groups to join us as we back Rankin and Boozman.  We must send these two candidates to fight for us in Washington.

Beth Anne Rankin wins Republican primary

Beth Anne Rankin addresses a crowd of supporters in Magnolia after winning the Republican primary election Tuesday night.


MAGNOLIA, AR – Beth Anne Rankin of Magnolia won the Republican nomination for the Fourth Congressional District in Tuesday’s primary election.
Before a crowd of supporters Tuesday night , Rankin said she is ready to take on the career politician who now holds the office.

“I would rather be an underdog than a blue dog,” Rankin said.

Rankin said she credits her primary victory to her “Back to Basics” campaign resonating with the voters.

“I’m for limited government, lower taxes and individual liberty,” Rankin said. “These are fundamental principles upon which our Constitution is built. It is time that we the people send a strong message to Washington that the federal government must live within its means and respect the spirit of entrepreneurship and free-market principles”

Rankin has been endorsed by former Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Fourth District Congressman Jay Dickey.

Rankin is a 1989 Honor Graduate of Magnolia High School, attended Southern Arkansas University and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Ouachita Baptist University after being selected as the “Ouachitonian Outstanding Senior Woman.”

She served the state as Miss Arkansas 1994. Rankin performed in the fall, Christmas and New Year’s shows of America’s Piano Showman DINO in Branson, Missouri, before retuning to Arkansas to work for Gov. Huckabee.
While working in the governor’s office, Rankin served in several capacities including liaison and policy advisor to the National Governors’ Association, the Southern Governors’ Association, the Council of State Governments, Southern Growth Policies Board, Capitol Hill and the White House.

Under the direction of Gov. Huckabee, she coordinated the Governor’s Summit on Economic Development and launched and chaired the state-wide effort in selection of the winning design for the Arkansas quarter.
A small business owner, Rankin Anne founded Beth Anne Productions, Inc. in 1998.

Note: Once again a big thank you goes to Jim Harris for providing this press release to The Texarkana GOP!

BETH ANNE RANKIN RAISES MORE THAN HER OPPONENT

Once again, a big thank you to Jim Harris for providing this press release from Beth Anne Rankin to us.

MAGNOLIA – Beth Anne Rankin of Magnolia has raised more than twice the amount of campaign contributions than her opponent in the May 18 Republican primary election for the Fourth District seat in Congress, according to the latest campaign financial reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Rankin raised $80,093 as of the April 28 filing deadline. She has spent $36,610 and has cash on hand of $43,481. She has a campaign debt of $7,501.

Her Republican opponent has raised a total of $31,164 as of the deadline, according to the FED. He has spent $17,363 and has cash on hand of $13,800. He has a $1,372 campaign debt.

“The response to my campaign has been wonderful,” Rankin said. “The fourth District is not used to having a Republican congressional primary, and to have raised this much money in just a couple of months shows people are connecting to my ‘back to basics’ campaign.”

Rankin has been endorsed by former Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Fourth District Congresman Jay Dickey.

Rankin has is a 1989 Honor Graduate of Magnolia High School, attended Southern Arkansas University and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Ouachita Baptist University after being selected as the “Ouachitonian Outstanding Senior Woman.”

She served the state as Miss Arkansas 1994. Rankin performed in the fall, Christmas and New Year’s shows of America’s Piano Showman DINO in Branson, Missouri, before retuning to Arkansas to work for Gov. Huckabee.

While working in the governor’s office, Rankin served in several capacities including liaison and policy advisor to the National Governors’ Association, the Southern Governors’ Association, the Council of State Governments, Southern Growth Policies Board, Capitol Hill and the White House.

Under the direction of Gov. Huckabee, she coordinated the Governor’s Summit on Economic Development and launched and chaired the state-wide effort in selection of the winning design for the Arkansas quarter.

A small business owner, Rankin Anne founded Beth Anne Productions, Inc. in 1998.

Glenn Gallas: Getting Government Back On the Right Road

We have another guest writer today presenting some information about Glenn Gallas

Guest Writer: Caleb Kinley of Hot Springs is the Executive Director of
Pro Arkansans for Liberty (PAL) and the founder of Revolution Designs
(http://revolutiondesigns.us ), a small website design company located in
Hot Springs.  He is also the Bishop and General Overseer of the Apostolic
Council of Nazarene's.  He is blessed to be a father of two beautiful
children and a faithful husband to his wife Anita, who is a loving,
beautiful wife that is also his best friend. In March, Caleb and Anita
celebrated their 19th wedding anniversary.

There is no doubt in my mind that many politicians of our beloved nation
are traveling down the wrong road and have been doing so for many years at
great expense to taxpayers. At a time when our government needs to slow
down its own growth and reach, cut taxes, significantly reduce its
spending, they are instead, blatantly forging forward against the will of
the people in a way that could ultimately bring our once prosperous nation
down.  As is, the rugged course we are currently being forced to travel is
totally unsustainable and in the end, will probably fail unless we the
people can legally stop this most unfortunate monstrosity in 2010.  From
sea to shining sea, and as always when the government intervenes in the
private market, the American people will be the ones who get the short end
of the stick and suffer, just as we did with the bailouts and stimulus
plans that were supposed to "save" our economy.  When there's a fire, you
don't put it out by throwing gasoline on the flames, which is just what
bailouts and stimulus plans do.

In a nutshell, our nations frail, shaky, and failing economy is being
morphed into something far worse than it is now; a socialistic one, where
government consumes national industries in the pretense of taking care of
us from the organizations they deem to be "too big to fail."  Never mind
that socialism has never succeeded, not even once.  However, our
Constitutional Republic has been successful for two hundred years, at
least until the government started to really stray from our Country's
founding documents.  Our current representatives will not hear of our
economic warnings or listen to we the people when we warn them that they
are breaking the law and their oaths by violating the Constitution.
Therefore, to solve this pressing issue, we need someone to help bring our
nation back on the right road.  Enter Glenn Gallas.

Conservative Republican Glenn Gallas, one of two Republican candidates
vying for the seat currently held by the "Multi-TRILLION" dollar man,
incumbent Democrat Mike Ross (4th district), is [Gallas] the real deal and
brings much needed courage and conviction to the table. Unlike the
supposed 'blue dog' Mike Ross, Gallas is tough as nails and his personal
convictions will not permit him to bow down before Nancy Pelosi or Harry
Reid.  The courage of Glenn to stand against legislation that would be
harmful to Arkansans, and Americans in general, is unprecedented and
needed to help pull our nation back from the brink of economic implosion,
unlike the voting record of current Congressman Mike Ross. In fact, here
are a few of the voting records that tell the true tale of the
"Multi-TRILLION" dollar Congressman, Mike Ross.

*Cast deciding "YES" vote to let original Obamacare bill come out of
Committee
*Voted "YES" to $1.9 TRILLION INCREASE to limit on National Debt
*Voted "YES" to $192 BILLION additional Stimulus Spending
*Voted "YES" to $825 BILLION American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (H.R. 1)
*Voted "YES" to $60 BILLION Stimulus Package (H.R. 7110)

And as our luck would have it, the Heritage Foundation
(http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2010/03/Top-10-Disasters-of-Obamacare)
just debunked the CBO's price tag on Obama Care by revealing that the
true, actual cost will be at least $2.5 TRILLION as opposed to the $940
BILLION initially expressed, which is almost three times the cost put
forth by the CBO. As you can clearly see in the "YES" vote sample, a very
small sample at that, there is nothing fiscally conservative or 'blue dog'
about Ross when you add up the fiscally irresponsible "YES" votes he has
accumulated.  Mike Ross is on the hook for over $5.4 TRILLION, just on the
few votes listed in the sample. Because of the votes of Ross, your
children and grandchildren are now straddled with and strangled by an
inextinguishable debt, meaning...a debt they can never repay or ever pay
off. Mike Ross simply does not understand that as government grows, its
growth deprives the private sector of its very life line and stunts its
growth, which is jobs. He also has failed to learn that as government
grows, the overall standard of living that we the people depend on is
lowered, and causes families to suffer needlessly. No, Mike Ross is not
part of the solution.  He's part of the problem. After all his years as a
U.S. Congressman, Ross has not yet learned that the bigger the government
becomes, the more of a burden it becomes upon individuals, especially his
constituents. Through massive taxation via bailouts, stimulus plans,
unconstitutional laws, the recently passed Health Care law, inflation
(coming soon-a hidden tax), new money (read tax) sucking programs, and not
reading the bills first, we the people are fed up with the status quo and
are fighting back in the droves against the entrenched establishment
destroying our country. And that's why he needs to go (Toss Ross!) and is
why we the people of Arkansas need to support and vote for Glenn Gallas.

Glenn will work hard to get our nation back on the right road.  He's a
proven leader, successful business owner, a fourteen year Army veteran who
faithfully served our country, he's a loving husband and caring father, a
community leader, a devout Christian and Sunday School teacher, the
founder of the Garland County TEA Party, a very strong supporter of our
second amendment rights, and a strong protector of our inalienable rights.
Glenn wants to work with we the people to bring our straying government
back to its constitutional roots. I can't think of a better person to hire
to serve we the people of Arkansas than Glenn Gallas. I truly believe that
Glenn will faithfully serve we the people of Arkansas with great respect,
strong courage, conviction, and with honor.

To learn more about Glenn, please visit his campaign site at
http://www.gallasforcongress.com

Follow Glenn on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/Gallas4Congress
Glenn on FaceBook-
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Glenn-Gallas-For-Congress/336916513481?ref=ts
Glenn on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/Gallas4Congress
Glenn on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/gallas4congress