Finally...

...reporters acting like reporters.

Jake Tapper and Jennifer Loven from the Associated Press grill Robert Gibbs over Obama asking his cabinet to trim $100 million from his budget. Paring off $100 million is roughly .0029% of the overall budget or the equivalent of one Starbucks latte a year.

My Tea Party Speech

I have received a good number of emails from people asking me if they could get a copy of the speech I delivered at the recent Tea Party in Omaha. So, rather than send out a mass email, I thought it would be easier to just post it here. Thanks again to everyone who participated in the Omaha and Lincoln Tea Parties and I look forward to seeing you all at the next one on July 4th.

Thank you all very much for coming here this evening in peaceful defiance of a government that has clearly overstepped its bounds.

I speak to you today not as an elected official, but as an average American who is enraged beyond words at the actions of this Congress and this President who seem to believe that the best way to help our nation recover from this recession is to tax us, our neighbors, and spend our children into utter oblivion.

“Society in every state is a blessing, but government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil and in its worst state an intolerable one.

“For when we suffer or are exposed to the same miseries by a government, which we might expect in a country without government, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer.”

Those rebellious words were written by the great Thomas Paine and how true they are. I was thinking recently about how dearly we need men like Mr. Paine right now, at this very moment in our own history, to provide our elected leaders with a reality check.

This budget, this administration, and this course of action our Congress is leading us down was not what was envisioned nor intended by our Founding Fathers who bestowed to the world the idea that was America. But you know what?

I think that what we have right now, brewing and manifesting itself all across the country today by average American citizens who share our frustration about the reckless government spending, is the very reality check our Congress and President need.

They cannot ignore us anymore.

These Tea Parties demonstrate that Americans have a limit; Americans value serving a cause greater than themselves. The great thing about serving a cause is that when things go terribly wrong, you have the chance to go out and DO something about it. You can change it. We can change it. We are changing it.

America is under attack from within. Our future, and our children’s future, is being decimated by unprecedented government spending and financial recklessness. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of sitting at home and yelling at my TV. If I wanted to live in France I would move to Paris.

I believe that our elected officials have a duty to show us, the taxpayer, exactly how they are spending our money.
That’s called transparency. And it’s something we practice right here in Nebraska. Transparency shouldn’t be a privilege that our government occasionally doles out to us whenever it feels like being benevolent.

Let’s be clear about something: Our elected leaders serve us. We are their boss. And the money the government uses to build its infrastructure, pay salaries, fund their pension plans, and support their outrageous pork projects comes from us.

The government didn’t earn this money; they took it from us in the form of taxes. Some politicians believe that paying high taxes is an act of high patriotism; that it’s part of being “American.”

Nonsense.

Being “American” means having faith in your neighbor to do the right thing; it means believing in the sanctity of our individual liberties; it means defending at all costs the spirit and original intent of what our Framers inscribed in our Declaration of Independence and Constitution; and above all else, it means having the courage to take a stand against a tyrannical government even if it means you must stand alone.

But today, in cities and towns and homes all across this vast and incredible country of ours, people are taking a stand; people are standing up to a government that has absolutely lost its mind.

And we are not alone.

If this movement is going to be successful it will have to be maintained by us. The media is not going to help us one bit. But that’s fine. I like a good challenge.

It is an honor to stand among you today, shoulder to shoulder as we make known our grievances to this government that is doing everything it can to ignore us and discount our cause.

As Ronald Reagan said: “We have come to a time for choosing. Do we believe in our capacity for self-government or do we abandon the American Revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them for ourselves.”

God Bless you all and God Bless America!

Tea Party Reflections

At least 2,000. Probably even more. 

I don't think there was an open parking spot in all of downtown Omaha. This was easily one of the most awesome things I've ever taken part in and it was overwhelming to see so many Nebraskans energized, motivated and unified behind a common cause. 

I hope to have some photos posted shortly, but in the mean time here is a collection of stories about yesterday's movement. 

The Omaha World Herald did a nice job with their summary, but with all due respect to Don Walton and Lincoln Journal Star, I think their estimate of 600 people is off by about 500. I talked to numerous people who attended the Lincoln rally and they all thought it was closer to 1,000 participants.

As always, Michelle Malkin provides some great coverage as well as spot-on conservative commentary.

CNN was pitiful, condescending, and outright arrogant in their coverage:

And, as usual, FoxNews was there to respond as only they can. Here's Shepherd Smith with the quote of the year: "Don't get your hate on, Susan."

Some Common Sense

GET TO A TEA PARTY!

I'm sure you all are aware of the Tea Parties that are taking place all across the country today. Fox News seems to be the only station taking us seriously since they have dispatched 5 television hosts to broadcast live at specific cities. 

In any event, please try to find some time tonight and join one of the 3 Tea Parties taking place in Omaha and Lincoln.

I will be attending the one at the Douglas County Courthouse.

Lincoln: Lancaster County Event Center (84th St. & Holdredge): 4pm to 6pm

Omaha: Douglas County Courthouse (1819 Farnam St.): 5pm to 7pm

Omaha: Millard Library (132nd St. & Westwood): 6pm to 8pm

Nebraska Gets Another National Plug

I was in our nation's capitol a few weeks ago and had the distinct pleasure of visiting with House Republican Leader John Boehner. Congressman Boehner has just unveiled a new blog called GOP State Solutions which

is devoted to Congressional Republicans working with reform-minded GOP governors and state legislators to fight Washington bureaucracy, inefficiency, and waste and to promote better solutions to the challenges facing the American people.

During our conversation, I told Congressman Boehner about NebraskaSpending.com and he was immediately impressed. Like so many other elected officials across the country, he was under the impression that in order to create a transparency website, a state would have to spend millions of dollars. When I told him we created ours for only $35 thousand, his jaw nearly hit the floor.

So, he gave us a nice little shout-out in his blog:

In Nebraska, for example, State Treasurer Shane Osborn has created a user-friendly, inexpensive, and effective public website that allows citizens to monitor state spending activity.

One of the things NebraskaSpending.com has succeeded in doing, is demonstrate to both local and federal officials alike that effective public policy tools do not have to have an exorbitant price tag. My good friend Jason Petersen and the rest of his team over at Pickering Creative Group has done just a great job in making our website attractive, simple and easy to use.

Once again, Nebraska is setting the example for the rest of the country.

Fox News Strategy Room Today

Great news! I am going to be on the Fox News internet program, Strategy Room, at 2:30pm today! This program is only available on line, but you can view it here: FoxNews Strategy Room.

One of things I hope to talk about is Nebraska's low unemployment rate. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national unemployment rate is at 8.5% while Nebraska's has recently dropped to 4.1%.

We're doing things the right way here in Nebraska!