County Sets Tax Rate for 2012

September Lunch with Slade O’Brien had a Focus on Activism

Today’s RCPB Luncheon was focused on activism.  After the Invocation and Pledge led by Sid Lanier, Club President Melissa Nash welcomed Honoraries – Gary Nikolits, PBC Property Appraiser and Bill Diamond, Palm Beach City Council.  Melissa then had several club members briefly comment on their experiences at Presidency 5 and CPAC-FL in Orlando the prior week. 

Melissa then introduced Slade O’Brien, Florida State Director of Americans for Prosperity.  While Slade covers all of Florida, he lives in Palm Beach County.  He has been leading several seminars on activism and  GOTV in the area and folks should take advantage of the next ones when available.  For more information on AFP Florida go here..

Slade also mentioned a few other organizations:  True the Vote was one of them.  Also he suggested joining Liberty Linked  as an activist website that enables one to connect with fellow conservatives.  He talked about the importance of social media in the upcoming election cycle, and touched on Anita MonCrief and her whisteblower role in the Acorn scandals.

Melissa also pointed out that future REC meetings will be held at the Vista Center and that October’s RCPB meeting will be a Special evening meeting with a panel discussin Illegal Immigration in Florida.

Pictures by Delia

Herman Cain Walks Away with P5

At 37%, Herman Cain collected more votes at the Florida Straw Poll than both Mitt Romney and Rick Perry combined. How did this happen?

Most delegates came to the P5 convention with a pretty good idea of who they were going to support, and like the national polls would indicate, Rick Perry and Mitt Romney were the overwhelming favorites. In my case, I had pretty much decided to join the Perry campaign after the convention and was seeking a confirmation of that decision.

On Thursday, all the candidates appeared at Ralph Reed’s Faith and Freedom gathering. Perry did OK, giving a variation of his stump speech (“First, don’t spend all the money..”). Most of the others were predictable and although Cain was inspiring, he didn’t really register with me. That evening, at the Fox/Google debate, most candidates held their ground, but Perry faltered badly in two ways. First, he insulted many people on the in-state tuition for illegal aliens issue by saying that if you opposed it you “didn’t have a heart”. Second, a seemingly rehearsed attack on Mitt Romney over flip-flops dissolved into a puddle of incoherence. Not good. Herman Cain again did very well but did not register as I was still working out how to overlook Perry’s problems and rationalize my support for him.

On Friday, at the CPAC conference, Perry had ample opportunity to better explain his tuition stance but declined to do so. He could have explained that unlike the federal Dream Act, in Texas it involves no amnesty and simply applies the in-state rules to “residents”. Furthermore, it was passed with an overwhelming majority in the legislature and many other states provide the same kind of program. (I was still rationalising my support). Once again, Herman Cain was impressive.

On Saturday morning, we attended the Rick Perry breakfast. This would be the fourth time to see him and another chance at redemption. The breakfast was impressive – a full fancy buffet, and there was seating for over 1000. By my count, about 500 were in attendance and many of the seats were empty. After a while, the candidate entered from the corner of the large room and was immediately mobbed by press and eager supporters as he slowly made his way toward the center of the room. It had been announced that he would “greet everyone personally” and many of us waited for him to make his way to our side of the room. After 45 minutes of this he had not crossed the center line of the room and those on our side were visibly annoyed that they were sitting on their hands waiting for the guy. Finally, he makes for the stage and delivers 8 minutes of warmed over remarks (“First don’t spend all the money”). Four chances, four flops. Finally we have crossed the line and start thinking about which other candidate to support, but we will give him one more chance in his afternoon speech before the straw poll.

Not. By the afternoon, Rick Perry was on his way to Michigan and left a “surrogate” to speak for him. Scratch Rick Perry from further consideration.

That left (for me) Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum. Mitt Romney stopped being a choice long ago for many reasons too long to go into here. The others are clearly not in the same league. So we listened to the speeches with an open mind. Cain, Santorum and Gingrich had stayed to deliver their closing remarks, others had surrogates, Bachmann and Romney did not participate. Many around us were having second thoughts about Perry as well, particularly those with a “tea party” orientation. The more mainstream Republicans were comfortably in the Romney camp.

When Herman Cain made his remarks, the room came alive. This is what we were waiting for since Thursday. In my notes I wrote: Broad coverage of the issues, executive style, ARTICULATED VISION, powers of persuasion, and projection of leadership. He pressed all the right (conservative) buttons, but did it in a way that was clear, concise, motivating and persuasive. You could see this guy standing next to Barack Obama and wiping the stage with him. The excitement was palpable.

At that point I decided to vote for Herman Cain. Taking to heart Andrew Brietbart’s advice to not let the media define who is “electable”, I voted my heart. He may not win the nomination or even the Florida primary as there is a rough ride ahead, but now, today, this is a man who can be President.

Watch the video from the Saturday event and decide for yourself:

Part 1

Part 2

Call to Action – County Budget Meeting, 9/13/11

This is a call to action for next week’s county budget hearing, Tuesday evening, 9/13/11 at 6:00pm. The meeting is in the county government center, 301 North Olive in West Palm Beach. Come early as the meeting is expected to be crowded.

As you prepare for the meeting, here are some resources that may be useful:

• September Talking Points
• Sample email and 3 minute remarks
• The 2012 TAB Proposal – September Update
• September Budget Hearings – Some Background

Also check the “News Articles” tab on the TAB website for the latest budget stories from the Palm Beach Post, Sun Sentinel, and others.

Those on the “receiving” side of the budget will be out in force. Those of us on the “paying” side must also have their voices heard. If you can’t attend, send an email. Addresses for the commissioners and administrator can be found on right side of the TAB website, or you can email all at once at: BCC-AllCommissioners@pbcgov.org.

For some specific details about this meeting, see the 9/9 TAB email.

Labor Day: A brief history of the celebration of Labor Day

HOW LABOR DAY CAME ABOUT; WHAT IT MEANS

“Labor Day differs in every essential from the other holidays of the year in any country,” said Samuel Gompers, founder and longtime president of the American Federation of Labor. “All other holidays are in a more or less degree connected with conflicts and battles of man’s prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed and power, of glories achieved by one nation over another. Labor Day…is devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race, or nation.”

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity and well-being of our country.

Founder of Labor Day

More than 100 years after the first Labor Day observance, there is still some doubt as to who first proposed the holiday for workers.

Some records show that Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, was first in suggesting a day to honor those “who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold.”

But Peter McGuire’s place in Labor Day history has not gone unchallenged. Many believe that Matthew Maguire, a machinist, not Peter McGuire, founded the holiday. Recent research seems to support the contention that Matthew Maguire, later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, N.J., proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York. What is clear is that the Central Labor Union adopted a Labor Day proposal and appointed a committee to plan a demonstration and picnic.

The First Labor Day

The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, l883.

In l884 the first Monday in September was selected as the holiday, as originally proposed, and the Central Labor Union urged similar organizations in other cities to follow the example of New York and celebrate a “workingmen’s holiday” on that date. The idea spread with the growth of labor organizations, and in l885 Labor Day was celebrated in many industrial centers of the country.

Labor Day Legislation

Through the years the nation gave increasing emphasis to Labor Day. The first governmental recognition came through municipal ordinances passed during 1885 and 1886. From them developed the movement to secure state legislation. The first state bill was introduced into the New York legislature, but the first to become law was passed by Oregon on February 2l, l887. During the year four more states — Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York — created the Labor Day holiday by legislative enactment. By the end of the decade Connecticut, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania had followed suit. By 1894, 23 other states had adopted the holiday in honor of workers, and on June 28 of that year, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories.

A Nationwide Holiday

The form that the observance and celebration of Labor Day should take were outlined in the first proposal of the holiday — a street parade to exhibit to the public “the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations” of the community, followed by a festival for the recreation and amusement of the workers and their families. This became the pattern for the celebrations of Labor Day. Speeches by prominent men and women were introduced later, as more emphasis was placed upon the economic and civic significance of the holiday. Still later, by a resolution of the American Federation of Labor convention of 1909, the Sunday preceding Labor Day was adopted as Labor Sunday and dedicated to the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement.

The character of the Labor Day celebration has undergone a change in recent years, especially in large industrial centers where mass displays and huge parades have proved a problem. This change, however, is more a shift in emphasis and medium of expression. Labor Day addresses by leading union officials, industrialists, educators, clerics and government officials are given wide coverage in newspapers, radio and television.

The vital force of labor added materially to the highest standard of living and the greatest production the world has ever known and has brought us closer to the realization of our traditional ideals of economic and political democracy. It is appropriate, therefore, that the nation pay tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nation’s strength, freedom, and leadership — the American worker.[Source: United States Department of Labor]