• Last action on H867
• Full text of H867
• Bill history (including sponsors)

 

The number of required signatures will drop drastically from the current 58,000 to about 15,000.  This is very doable in our state.  With 100 counties, that means we need to get 150 valid signatures per county.  Now, realistically speaking, there are some counties where we will not be able to get even the desired 150.  However, other more populous counties can make up the difference.  One of the existing requirements also states that there have to be at least 200 signatures from each of four different congressional districts in the state.

 

Also, this bill changes the date by which we must notify the state Board of Elections of our candidates.  We have to hold a state convention and nominate our candidates for offices, then subsequently report those names to the BoE by May 1, 2004 if this bill is approved and signed into law.

Here's the kicker: this thing is still very much up in the air.  It might pass, and it might not.  Something else to keep in mind is the fact that there is not yet any companion bill in the NC Senate.  So, even if it passes the House, the Senate still has to deal with it.

 

In short, we as a party need to prepare ourselves for both scenarios (pass and fail).  If it passes, we can breathe a sigh of relief on the signature requirements, but we need to be prepared to report our candidates by May 1.  If it fails, we have until July 1 to report candidates, but we have to have a heap more signatures.  Therefore, let's set a goal now for gathering 60,000+ signatures and for holding a nominating convention in March or April 2004.  That way, no matter which scenario we are faced with, we are prepared.

 

Announcement: Ballot Access Drive

 

This brings me to this most important announcement.  Beginning July 1, we will officially kick off our ballot access drive for the 2004 election cycle.  We are encouraging party members and friends throughout North Carolina to get on board and help with this effort.  If you desire to see constitutional government in our state and nation, and if you've had enough of the two-party status quo system of liberal Democrats and forgetful elephants, then you need to help us do something about it.

 

This past week, someone asked me what I do as the chairman of a political party.  I responded that I try to organize and encourage the people to elect to office candidates who are principled people who will make a difference in America by replacing the same old liars and thieves who inhabit the halls of our legislatures in Raleigh and Washington.

 

Now is the time to take up our pens, our talents, our resources, our courage and our love of liberty and focus them as a team toward this goal.  What is America worth to you?  Get ready to work if you value what little liberty you now have and that which you would like to see restored.

 

If you are interested in signature gathering, or as part of the support team for those who are gathering signatures, or if you would like to volunteer materials or funds toward the effort, please respond ASAP and let us know how you would like to help.

 

What We Will Need to Gain Ballot Access

 

To get the needed signatures and file them with the BoE in Raleigh, there is work (effort) to be done.  It's going take volunteers in all parts of this state helping with this project.  It is going to require the use of our own resources - time, talent, and money.

 

There are many ways and places in which signatures may be obtained.  They can be gathered by going door-to-door, setting up tables at events, presenting them to group meetings, etc.  In any case, if you would like to actively participate in the signature gathering effort, there are some basic materials that will be needed.

 

For those who respond to the call to help with the project, we will supply a list of needed items and other important information.  We will also make ourselves available as needed to answer questions and assist in whatever way possible in this effort - even if that means traveling to your area to help do the work of gathering the signatures.

 

How You Can Help

 

Volunteers -- Of course, we need people who are willing to work at getting the signatures.  If we do not have these folks, this effort will go nowhere.  We need people in all parts of the state.  We need you whether you can give one hour, one afternoon, or several blocks of time over the course of the next several months.

 

Materials -- In addition to these volunteers, we need people who can loan or donate items toward the goal.  We will need tables, signs, pens, literature (purchased and copied), postage, and other miscellaneous items.

 

Cash -- We also need people who can contribute financially toward this project.  We do not receive assistance from the national office for a ballot access drive.  Neither do we have the resources for this sitting in a bank account somewhere.  We are prepared to work, but unless we have all the materials and/or the cash to do the work, there is only so much we can accomplish.

 

Contribution Incentives

 

To help our party raise the needed cash, I am prepared to offer some premium items for cash contributions that are made toward this effort.  These items were paid for by members and friends of the party - we have not bought them with funds from the party account.  Here are the offers...

 

         

These premium items will be awarded as follows:

Again, I ask, what is America worth to you?

 

Commentary: United States of China

 

Over the past couple of years, as I shop for various items I need, I have become increasingly disturbed at a trend that has been on the rise for quite some time.  It has only recently, though, angered me.  Yes, I do get angry about a few things.

 

Here's the problem.  I was looking for a pair of shoes for my daughter's wedding in May of 2002.  Not just any shoes would do.  But I can't afford a whole lot, either.  So I have to look where the affordable shoes are.  Unfortunately, nothing seemed appropriate where I usually shop, and as we drove up to New York for the wedding, we stopped at a department store on the Pennsylvania side of the state line.  This store had shoes that were fit for the occasion - and in my size, too.  What's more, they looked nice.  I tried them on - they felt nice.  I liked them.  So, I placed them back in the box and got ready to tuck them under my arm when a small phrase on the box caught my eye: "Made in China."

 

Have you ever been in one of those situations that seem to make time stand still?  This was one of them for me, though not for a pleasant reason.  I was outraged, angered, upset, and a host of other emotions all at the same time.  Some of you might be wondering why such a thing as this would upset me.  It is mainly for your benefit that I have written this article.

 

Is it because I'm part of the "Buy American" crowd that flooded our airwaves several years ago with their pleas to avoid foreign-made products?  No.  Much of the "Buy American" fad was, as I understood it, a by-product of unions attempting to protect American jobs and industries.  Now, I'm all for guarding against losing vital cogs in our economy, but I'm certainly not sympathetic to the union mentality in our country.

 

Is it because I hate foreigners or have a problem accepting those of different cultures?  Not at all.  One of my cousins who was stationed in Korea during his service in the military married a Korean girl and brought her back to the states.  Lena was an enjoyable person to know.  My sister and I got to know her and learn about the Korean culture.  For a while, I worked side-by-side doing painting and remodeling with a Mexican man named Juan - we became good friends as we labored together.  I enjoyed learning about his culture and life in Mexico.

 

Was I angry and outraged because I hate the Chinese?  No.  My heart - as does that of other believers - senses the great need for the Gospel in China - a nation teeming with millions who have never heard of Jesus Christ and his love for them.

 

No, I was upset because I called to mind the many facts about China that I have become aware of over the years I have given attention to politics and the governments of this world.

 

·          The Chinese government forces abortions on its own people in the name of population control - the government murders its own pre-born citizens.

·          The Chinese government cracks down on any expression of liberty and Christianity (remember Tianenmen Square?).  Christians are routinely imprisoned or executed.

·          The Chinese government violates human rights repeatedly and yet calls for and expects the US to continue to grant it Most Favored Nation status.

·          Corporations with direct ties to the Chinese government own the world's largest seaport in the Bahamas as well as control both ends of the Panama Canal.

·          Chinese spies have been feverishly active in our nation over the past couple of decades trying to steal our military and technological secrets and influence our elections.

·          Chinese leaders, while appearing civil and accommodating on the stage of world diplomacy, have never denounced their avowed aim to defeat America - in fact, they have lately made threats, reminding us of the fact that they now have the capability to hit LA or San Francisco with a long-range missile and by 2005 will have the capability to hit any target on the US mainland.

·          Chinese leaders continue to threaten and bully the free people and government of Taiwan, claiming that it is a renegade province of the mainland nation.  This includes firing a missile at Taiwan, stationing war ships off its coast, and warning the US not to interfere by protecting Taiwan.

 

I ask you, who is the greater threat to America?  Saddam Insane, or the Communist Chinese government?

 

The really sad truth is that those who ought to be championing liberty in our government and standing with the free nation of Taiwan and against the Communist aggression of the Chinese government are doing just the opposite - shunning the Taiwanese while buddying up to the Chinese.  Our greedy political, economic and industrial leaders haved wide the doors of trade and commerce to this nation led by a band of bloodthirsty, godless tyrants.  The excuse I hear offered is that by playing it nice with the Chinese we avoid a major international conflict with them.  Byng up commerce, we are encouraging their people to enjoy economic success so that they will overthrow their rotten government and embrace democracy.  Republicans are every bit as guilty of this strategy as Democrats.  Meanwhile, we continue to pare down our military, reasoning that the age of enlightened, diplomatic solutions has arrived and we have no more need for these archaic weapons of mass destruction.

 

Yea.  And as I see more and more merchandise in our stores with the "Made in China" label on it, I can't help but wonder what it would be like for a conquering Chinese general to march victoriously down your street, break down the door to a home and force its occupants out at gunpoint, then sit back in a Lazyboy and exclaim, "Now I'm home," as he looks around him at all the Chinese-made merchandise gracing this house.

 

What we are doing, friends, is buying for them the rope to hang us - by buying their products.  Understand this: there is no true economic freedom in China.  The government is benefiting big time from all the economicess we are offering that country.  And it is a government avowed to destroy us and take our liberties from us.  Couple that with the espionage and theft of military and technological secrets for at least two decades and you have a monster waiting to emerge - and we're feeding it.

 

It is for this reason that I have vowed, personally, never to knowingly buy Chinese merchandise again if I can possibly avoid it.  I know to some this may sound rash, extreme, reactionary.  But so did my decision to bolt the Republican Party and join the Constitution Party.

 

I'm acting on Principle.

 

And so it was recently that my wife needed another pair of shoes.  As she headed in the direction of the shoe aisle, I called out to her, "Find something that wasn't made in China."  So she did.  When I looked for a package of pens, I had trouble finding one that wasn't made in China, but eventually I found some that were made in Japan.  Finally, I wanted to find an answering machine so I can retire my Aussie friend who answers from my computer.  I have yet to locate an answering machine - an economical one, anyway - that wasn't made in China.  Being disappointed at the selection, I walk out of the store saying, "G'day, Mate."

 

I encourage you, as well, to take a stand for America.  Don't buy the rope that will hang us - not even one thread of it.  Let's stop this nonsense - first in our personal lives - then encourage others to practice the same.

 

Blessings to you, as you stand on Principle.

 

For Christ and the Constitution,

Michael Harrison

Chairman