March 2013 Meeting Invitation

Common Core Bill Filed

We received this fantastic news from Jane Robbins.  Please contact your State legislator and and ask them to support S.B. 167.

http://news.heartland.org/newspaper-article/2013/02/15/bill-would-withdraw-georgia-common-core

Senator Ligon introduced the Common Core-withdrawal bill, S.B. 167, yesterday. Five other senators -- Barry Loudermilk, John Albers, Chuck Hufstetler, Hunter Hill, and Tommie Williams -- signed on as well. 

We now have about 3 weeks to get this through the Senate so it can be sent to the House. Please crank up your networks and generate phone calls to the Senate Education Committee and the Governor (phone numbers attached -- don't worry about calling the House for now). Also attached is a short summary of what's wrong with Common Core.

Nationally, the news was good this week. The Indiana Senate Education Committee voted 7-4 to send the CC bill to the full Senate, which will vote on it this coming Tuesday. (If you have friends or relatives in IN, recruit them to the cause!). Yesterday the Kansas House Education Committee held a hearing on a similar bill, and a bill has been introduced in Alabama with a slew of co-sponsors. This wave is building.

As always, we're grateful for your dedication.

Jane

 

 Here is an outline of Common Core

Common Core is a set of K-12 school standards, in English language arts (ELA) and math, that were developed behind closed doors by private interests in Washington, DC. The standards were then imposed on the states by the US Department of Education, which required states to adopt them to be eligible for Race to the Top stimulus funding. Adoption of the Common Core scheme in Georgia creates many problems:

1)      Georgia can no longer control what is taught in its schools in ELA and math;

2)      Georgia parents and teachers will have no recourse if they see that the standards are not working in the classroom;

3)      The Common Core standards are mediocre at best and will “dumb down” instruction in our schools;

4)      The national test that is aligned with Common Core (the PARCC test) will impose enormous costs on the state and on local school districts and will result in inequitable results for both students and teachers;

5)      The Common Core scheme also includes the collection of massive amounts of personal data on our students, which data will ultimately be shared with the US Department of Education and whatever other government agencies or private organizations it designates to receive the data;

6)      The amount of money it will cost to implement the Common Core standards and the PARCC tests will dwarf the $400 million Georgia received from Race to the Top; and

7)      Georgia will likely have no control over future standards (in science, social studies, and health/sex education) that will be imposed just as Common Core was – through the power of the federal purse.

Find out more information at http://stopcommoncore.com/

 

Effectively Conveying the Conservative Message

Conservative Republican Women

Of North Atlanta

invites you to attend our February meeting
Monday, February 18th,
Magnolia Café
5175 South Old Peachtree Road,
Norcross, GA
Doors open at 7:00.
Meeting begins promptly at 7:30

Featured speakers are:

Carolyn Garcia

Effectively Conveying the GOP Message

and

Rachel Little
Gene Callaway

Gwinnett County GOP Chairman Candidates

Please feel free to invite your friends

Don't forget to bring your expired and current manufacturer coupons to support our troops

Please remember it is time to pay your dues of $25.00.

FQA for Gwinnett GOP Mass Meetings

Posted from www.gwinnettrepublicans.com

Gwinnett GOP Mass Meetings February 9^th 2013
Where will the Mass Meetings be held?
School District 1: Gwinnett GOP Headquarters, 46 South Clayton Street in Lawrenceville.
School District 2: Collins Hill High School Media Center, 50 Taylor Road in Suwanee.
School District 3: Ippolito’s Restaurant, 350 Town Center Avenue in Suwanee.
School District 4: Snellville City Hall Community Room, 2342 Oak Road.
School District 5: Singleton Road Activity Building, 5520 Singleton Road in Norcross.

IMPORTANT: School district boundaries changed in 2012, and you may be in a different school district than you were previously. You are strongly urged to check your precinct number and your correct school district prior to your arrival at a mass meeting location.  If you arrive at the wrong location, you will not be allowed to participate, and may not have enough time to get to the correct location by the time the mass meetings begin.  (Doors open at 9:00; Mass meeting begins at 10:00.) 

What Are the Requirements to Attend the Mass Meeting?
You must be a registered voter in the precinct and you must believe in Republican principles. You do not have to be a paid member of the Gwinnett GOP in order to participate.

What should I bring to the Mass Meeting?
To speed registration, please bring photo ID. We will have a computerized database of registered voters in the county, and will verify your ability to participate using that database. If you registered to vote or changed your registration address after October 9th, 2012, your registration information may not be in our database. In that case, print out a copy of your registration record from the Secretary of State website. If your registration information does not appear in the state database, you will need to contact the Gwinnett County Department of Elections and get this information from them.

What if I can’t attend the Mass Meeting but still want to be a delegate at the convention?
You may have someone else who is attending your precinct’s Mass Meeting nominate you as a delegate, however those attending the meeting have first priority over those not in attendance. A change to the credential forms this year requires that each delegate and alternate provide their legal name as listed in their voter registration record, gender and birth year, in addition to address, phone number and email address. If someone else will nominate you, make sure that you provide them with this information.

What happens if no one shows up from my precinct?
In that case, the precinct officer positions will remain unfilled, and no one representing that precinct will be eligible to vote at the county convention.

What if I’m the only one from my precinct to attend?
In that case, you can represent your precinct at the County Convention. You can also elect yourself as Precinct Chairman, although this is not required if you don’t want to take on the responsibility.

I’ve moved recently. Which precinct should I attend?
You must attend the mass meeting of the precinct in which you are registered to vote, even if you no longer live there. If you updated your voter registration to reflect your new address after October 9th, 2012, bring a copy of your new registration information with you. If you attend a mass meeting in a precinct other than the one you are registered in, you will be disqualified and you will not be permitted to attend the convention as a delegate or alternate.

I Still Have Questions. Who Do I Contact?
Please email your question to info@gwinnettrepublicans.com

 

President Obama and 23 Executive Orders

News Letter from Congressman Rob Woodall: 

President Obama and 23 Executive Orders 

This week the President, with the help of his Vice President, rolled out a series of gun control proposals in the form of 23 executive orders as well as several legislative recommendations as a response to the tragedy that occurred a little over one month ago in Newtown, Connecticut. You can read the President’s entire proposal by clicking here.  I need not remind you of the horror the nation felt the day we learned a madman single handily killed 26 children and educators at a New England elementary school.  We'll not soon forget where we were and what we were doing upon hearing the news.  As we hug our loved ones ever tighter and continue to question what makes a human do such an evil thing, we look for answers that may not be able to be found.

Believe me, if there was a single piece of legislation out there that would guarantee that a tragedy like Sandy Hook would never happen again in America, I would be its strongest supporter.  But I am deeply troubled by the opportunism of those who have always opposed Second Amendment freedoms using this horrible tragedy as an excuse to further constrain those freedoms.

In the President's haste to provide federal solutions, I wonder if he has taken the time to look at how states are handling crisis prevention on their own?  Frank Berry, the Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Behavioral and Developmental Disabilities has worked with Governor Deal to transform how the mentally ill are treated in our court system.  In the wake of the Sandy Hook tragedy, Commissioner Berry issued a response that encouraged residents to contact Georgia's 24-hour crisis hot line with any needs or concerns.  I'm proud of the work Georgia does to keep its residents safe.  I expect that Congress will look thoroughly at all the issues in the Sandy Hook tragedy from the mental health treatment options to school security options to criminal enforcement.  Though, my hope is that states will take a page out of Georgia's book and craft solutions tailored to their local needs--rather than take a clumsy federal "take-it-or-leave-it" solution.

Helping our neighbors...the right way.

This week, the House had the tough job of appropriating disaster relief funds to the states affected to the point of devastation by Hurricane Sandy.  I absolutely believe we should help our neighbors in their time of need. That said, we almost always serve one another better locally than we do with a check from Washington, D.C.  America's generosity during natural disasters by giving to the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and more, is unmatched.  In those rare instances of such widespread devastation that federal aid is required, we must provide that aid by reducing spending on other lower priorities, not by running up the debt burden on future generations.  This is why I supported measures to ensure that any emergency funding was fully offset by other spending cuts.  These offset measures did not pass the House, unfortunately, and instead, the total package of Sandy relief legislation grew nearly three-fold--from $17 billion to over $60 billion in new deficit spending-- and was passed over my objection.  You can read the bill, H.R. 152, by clicking here. 

I offered to support an across-the-board cut of all federal spending that Georgia receives--a sacrifice for our community--so that we could use the money to help our neighbors in New York and New Jersey.  We do make those sacrifices for one another in America, and it makes us better as a nation.  Unfortunately, the New York and New Jersey delegations turned that offer down.  They wanted all of the $60 billion, and they didn't want to find a penny of it through spending cuts.  That is wrong for America.  I am glad that families affected by Hurricane Sandy in New York and New Jersey will get the help that they need, but I am very disappointed with the way it happened.  If we can't come together as a nation to reduce spending in low-priority areas so that we can prioritize families who lost everything after the storm, I have low expectations for those same members of Congress coming together to make the much bigger cuts that we need to make in order to stop the deficits and restore the economy.

There is only one way out.


 

Speaking of deficits, the little cartoon above captures it perfectly.  The President and Congress don't see eye-to-eye on how to fix America's growing debt crisis.  Congress and the President have had this conversation time and again and we always come back to this one point: the President wants to raise taxes and raise spending, and Congress wants to shrink deficit spending and grow America’s economy!

If you subscribe to my Facebook updates you'll have already seen my reaction to the President's press conference on raising the debt ceiling.  You can also read my official statement on the press conference by clicking here.  

Knowing that you have thoughts of your own on the President's proposal to raise the debt limit once again, I hope you'll take the opportunity to join me at one of my upcoming Town Hall Meetings.  It's important that you and I gather and decide together how to move forward to grow the economy while shrinking Washington's out-of-control spending. 

 My upcoming Town Hall Meetings are listed below.

TELEPHONE TOWN HALL MEETING
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
7:00PM – 7:30PM
Call toll-free: (877) 229-8493
Passcode: 17849

GWINNETT TOWN HALL MEETING
Thursday, January 24, 2013
7:00PM – 8:00PM
Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center
75 Langley Drive
Lawrenceville, GA 30046

FORSYTH TOWN HALL MEETING
Thursday, January 31, 2013
7:00PM – 8:00PM
Forsyth County Administration Building
Commissioners Meeting Room
110 East Main Street
Cumming, GA 30040

Will you be able to join me for one or more of my Town Hall Meetings?

( ) Yes ( ) No ( ) I am not sure.

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Open survey in browser.

Thank you for all that you do to keep America strong.  I look forward to visiting with you at one of my Town Hall Meetings.

Sincerely,
   
Member of Congress

America: God and Guns By Senator Judson Hill

America: God and Guns

By Senator Judson Hill

As the days turn into weeks, let's continue to pray for the families in Connecticut as well as other people across the country, who have also recently been victims of shootings and mass violence. We should not readily move to restrict our 2nd Amendment rights and use someone else's tragedy and loss to advance longstanding, personal opposition to peoples' rights to bear arms.

After tragedies such as Connecticut, Virginia Tech, and Columbine; Americans are asking why there is violence in our schools and in society. Governor Mike Huckabee observed, "given we have systematically removed God from our schools should we be so surprised that schools would become a place of carnage?"

These tragedies did not occur because America allows its citizens to own guns. For years, it has been illegal to carry a gun into a school. The solution does not lie in creating another law reinforcing it’s illegal to kill people and to bring guns into schools or perhaps even protect school children with armed security guards. Additionally, we must also be very cautious about changing our Constitution. The Bill of Rights did not merely grant Americans the right to bear arms, but actually was recognition of the peoples' God-given inalienable rights.

Restricting guns is not the answer; and disarming law-abiding Americans does not prevent evil acts. The real issue stems from the moral and spiritual decline taking place in America. In the coming days, many will place the blame for the tragedy in Newtown on guns or poor security but will likely miss the bigger issue of cultural and moral apathy as well as the failure to instill moral and faith values in our children.

The answer to the tragedy in Newtown and other events is not to attack the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution nor attempt to restrict the Constitutional rights of law-abiding Americans. We must focus on mental health issues, violent videos and movies, and we must not ignore the core fundamental causes or we will never achieve the results our society seeks.

We should address the mental health challenges in our society and also examine Hollywood's violent movies and video games that use weapons to seemingly glorify violence. Interestingly, many liberals will hypocritically blame guns and gun ownership all the while working to still produce very violent videos which are desensitizing some people to the malicious and gruesome acts they portray. Furthermore, our leaders and courts should stop creating laws that devalue human life and make right wrong and wrong seem right. There is no simple answer and especially not one that fails to examine the consequences of America's moral decline.

When America limits and prohibits discussing moral values and principles in schools and in the public square, then we cannot be too surprised when people commit senseless acts of violence. Governor Huckabee recently stated that, “It is time we accept this reality – America doesn't have a crime problem, a gun problem or even a violence problem. What we have is a sin problem and since we've ordered God out of our schools, our communities, the military and public conversations, you know we really shouldn't act so surprised ... when all hell breaks loose." How can we deny that God exists and then blame Him for the resulting chaos?

The answer to these violent tragedies is not to further restrict Americans' rights. The public dialogue should also examine America's moral bearings and the importance that faith in God has on a culture and nation. When Americans again individually and collectively claim God's promise in scripture by humbling themselves and turning to Him, then we will begin to see a true change in behaviors and insure God's blessings for our families and nation.

Service Project: Coupons for Military Families

Conservative Republican Women of North Atlanta has decided to do some service projects this year.  Our first project is collecting both expired and current manufacture's coupons to send to military bases overseas.  The families are able to use expired coupons as well as current ones.

Please cut out Manufacturer coupons from newspapers and magazines and bring them to CRW meetings.  They do not have to be organized into categories.  CRW will mail them quarterly.  (We would be grateful for postage donations). 

If you want to find out more or have specific questions, please go to: www.grocerysavingtips.com/expiredgrocerycoupons.htm

We will have a box at the check in table to collect these coupons.  Thank you for helping our soldiers and their families. Please, keep them in your prayers.