No ‘social issues’ - Pro-life tracts banned at Sacramento Tea Party event

California Catholic ^ | April 18, 2011

[GonzoII]

Bud Reeves, president of the Sanctity of Human Life Network Inc., reports that he was intercepted at a Tea Party rally in Sacramento on Saturday and ordered to stop distributing pro-life pamphlets to attendees.

The event was sponsored by NorCal Tea Party Patriots and held at the Cal Expo in Sacramento. Scheduled speakers, among others, included U.S. Rep. Tom McClintock, Brent Bozell of the Media Research Center and a contributor to Fox News, radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt, and Brad Dacus of the Pacific Justice Institute.

“Today I attended the Sacramento area gathering of the Tea Party to hand out prolife tracts,” said Reeves in an April 16 email. “Given that the Tea Party purports to be an organization promoting the U.S. Constitution and all that it stands for, I thought my handing out of a small prolife tract promoting the most important civil right, the right to life, would be welcome. I was wrong. Not long after we started passing out the 7 thousand tracts we had printed for the event, we were told that we must stop the distribution, which was welcomed by most of the attendees we approached and who received the tract.”

Reeves said he asked why and was told, “Because we will not be involved in the ‘social issues.’ I asked to talk to a supervisor. I was escorted up to the stage area and when a supervisor did not appear, I returned to the crowd to continue handing out the tracts. Not long after I heard my name on the P.A. system, asking me to respond. I did so and was met by Mr. Rapini, the organizer of the Tea Party event.

[Nevadan]

re: “KMA. The pro-Life and Liberty message comes through loud and clear at every Tea Party event.”

And another thing, Mr. Robinson, if a local Tea Party group wants to promote pro-life issues - great - I have no problem with that. If another Tea Party group respectfully asks that we keep the focus on spending and taxation - great - I have no problem with that either because in the end, we’ll accomplish the goal of stopping unconstitutional, pro-death, spending and taxation by our federal (and hopefully) state governments.

The Tea Party is not a political party - it is a protest movement against unconstitutional governmental spending and taxation. That is its central moral issue.

I guess the real question is - Do we want the Tea Party to move from being a single issue protest movement to a new and separate political party?

[firebrand]

This is a long thread, which I will read later, but I just want to add that I am seeing a trend, which leads me to think the official Republican line is to keep the social issues out for 2012.

The only problem is, they are only keeping one side out. I’m sure they will not take the same action if someone is distributing pro-choice literature or pro-gay-marriage literature.

[Jim Robinson]

Well, look. It’s more than obvious then that you are not one of us, so why don’t you just go shoehorn yourself onto some other statist website more to your liking where you can fight for government control over our healthcare. FR will remain a pro-Life and Liberty site with or without you.

Government has no business and no constitutional authority to say squat about who gets healthcare and who does not and they definitely have no business rationing it. Look it up. It’s not an enumerated power. It’s therefore left to the states and the people. Historically, before the socialists took over, We the People paid for our own healthcare and that’s the way it should be. The socialist federal government and the socialists liberals and RINOS who support it can take a flying leap at a rolling donut.

DON’T TREAD ON ME!!

[misterrob]

Then you would agree that there should be an immediate abolishment of Medicare, Medicaid and anything else that involves the government in health care?

Say yes and the first round is on me......

[wagglebee]

I openly mock you and your debate style.

No, you mock social conservatives.

I mock you in your attempts to shoehorn your agenda into discussions when the issue has nothing to do with pro-life.

This thread is about pro-lifers being told they cannot distribute flyers at a Tea Party even, how is that me "shoehorning" my agenda?

mock you and your puerile attempts to assign beliefs and positions to people and shout to your ping list like a cheap school yard bully.

In one of your posts that was removed (I think it was #73, but Jim can look it up), you advocated rationing. What beliefs have I tried to assign to you.

My support of rationing health care comes from my embrace of financial reality

Congratulations, you agree with Obama.

From that I reject any and all attempts by people of your belief from enslaving me, my children and their children with an expansion of the nanny state that promises to provide for people in ways that government cannot and was never intended to.

Not wanting to kill the innocent has NOTHING to do with the nanny state.

For over four decades people have paid into Medicare, people like you want to have the federal government seize that money and ration health care via death panels. YOU are advocating the advancement of federal powers.

that desire for my own freedom makes me the antithesis of being pro-life then so be it.

Trust me, you ARE the antithesis of pro-life.

[GonzoII]

"It’s not an enumerated power. It’s therefore left to the states and the people."

That should be the end of it. If the People want that changed there's a process for it.

[Jim Robinson]

Well, during Bush our chapters were preoccupied with counter protesting the antiwar liberals. Maybe you missed it but the FReepers protested in every city across the land during both the Clinton and Bush years. And we objected daily on the pages of FR to Bush’s big spending. And FReepers continue to attend and support tea party rallies all across the country. It’s a natural for us.

And, no, we will not try to separate Life from Liberty. They are inseparable.

[misterrob]

I support the immediate abolishment of Medicare. If my refusal to pay into the system instead of tending to myself and those I am responsible for then hey, I am as evil a strawman as you want to make me.

Government healthcare has failed. Embrace it. Otherwise, get used to rationing because that’s what’s coming. CUZ THAT’S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN GOVERNMENTS GET INVOLVED WITH HEALTHCARE

[unique]

Yes, red flashing lights hopefully will get through the the social conservative crowd here.

[little jeremiah]

Actually, it’s the exact opposite. Huge blinking red font doesn’t make your false argument any more accurate.

[little jeremiah]

What makes you think that any social conservatives on FR or elsewhere want the gov involved in health care? I certianly don’t. The entire system of governemnt involved in all kinds of stuff needs to be scrapped and brought back to strict Consitutional principles.

[trisham]

Well said.

[unique]

WOW! OK, but what’s false about my ‘argument’? What’s wrong with taking care of issues that there is more than 50% agreement on first? That doesn’t reduce the importance of social issues, it just acknowledges how voters and representatives feel about those issue at this point in time.

Conservatives and absolutes are problems when it comes to the voting public - time to lighten up and wake up.

[Jim Robinson]

More than anything, the tea party is a constitutional movement. The number one issue is a return to the constitution, and that entails not only a rolling back of the out of control government, its spending and taxing, but also it’s overreaching and intrusion into our private lives.

We need to get its nose out of social security, health care and any other business or social issue. No where in the constitution can you find the authority for the federal government to take over social issues such as labor, health care, retirement, abortion, gay rights, gun control, health, education, welfare, religion, the environment, the economy, even the amount of water in our toilets, etc, etc, etc.

It’s much bigger than taxes. It’s about Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness!! It’s about freedom!! It’s about the America we all know and love and fear we are losing!!

High taxes are just a symptom of the disease. The root cause is socialism. The godless socialists and control freaks must be ripped out and never allowed to retake control. And that cannot be done by turning a blind eye to the underlying disease.

God bless America and all of her fighting men and women who have fought and sacrificed all down through our history to secure our freedom!!

DON’T TREAD ON ME!!

[little jeremiah]

Beautiful photos! It sure it is getting younger. Many college age young adults are becoming not just pro-life, but enthusiastically pro-life.

[rbmillerjr]

“What’s wrong with taking care of issues that there is more than 50% agreement on first?”

Polling over principle. The problem is polls change and when you drill down you find that you will have little spending to cut.

Sticking to principles is a better way to govern, if you believe in the principles. What you suggest is exactly what GOP RINOs do in office.

Give me somebody who believes in conservative principles, not wind analyzers.

[little jeremiah]

Read what JR just said above.

Conservative issues are winning issues, not losing ones.

Time for you to wake up and open your eyes.

[little jeremiah]

RINOs lose. Big. And Liberaltarians lose even bigger.

When principled Constutionalist conservatives run, they win.

[Jim Robinson]

Absolutely. They are totally unconstitutional.

[Jim Robinson]

By the way, I chose long ago not to debate liberals, trolls or naysaying nabobs of negativity. I simply zot them. FR is not a liberal debating society. You’re either with us or against us.