The 2009 Defending the American Dream Summit

Americans for Prosperity North Carolina
Re: Trip to Washington D.C. Oct 2nd-3rd

If you recently witnessed the large protest in our nations capital you know what a difference the people can make when they speak their minds. I hope you will consider traveling with us to Washington October 2nd and 3rd for the Defending the American Dream Summit.

The Americans for Prosperity Defending the American Dream Summit is your chance to make your voice heard against the massive government take over of our lives.

Our bus package includes the registration fee for the conference (and the three meals included in this fee), the bus ride, the hotel stay, the Town Hall rally at the Capitol, and visits with some of our NC Congressional delegation. The cost is $149. which is a really great deal. The only other money you would need for this trip would be for lunch on the way up and dinner on the way back. I attach a flier that we have put together just for North Carolinians. Please don't hesitate to call if you have any questions. Please note the special registration site where you should register online. http://www.ncdefendthedream.com/ The flier also contains information on how to register by check, if you prefer.

The bus leaves early Friday a.m. The camaraderie is worth taking the bus! Times from each city will be determined soon. You get on the bus and we take care of the rest. We stop for a quick lunch and then we go straight to Capitol Hill for a rally and to meet with some of our NC elected officials if they have a break in their sessions. Then, back on the bus to our hotel, the Marriott Crystal Gateway to check in and get ready for a great reception and Tribute to Ronald Reagan dinner Friday night. Lots of speakers, etc.

Bus Departure Locations

Charlotte

Greensboro

Southern Pines

Raleigh

N. Raleigh

Town of Wake Forest Wilmington

Jacksonville

Goldsboro

Kinston

Elizabeth City

Sanford

Murfreesboro

We had a great time last year. Then, you are on your own until the next day when we have a general session with many interesting speakers, lunch with other North Carolinians, and then an afternoon of panels on emerging issues. We get home late Saturday night .

$149 covers everything except lunch on the way up to DC and dinner on the way back to NC. This is based on sharing a room with a friend, family member or another AFP member that we match you up with. If you want to pay $199 you get your own room..

Contact me if you have other questions

Dallas Woodhouse
North Carolina State Director
Americans for Prosperity-North Carolina
919-839-1011 ext 3
919-671-1050 Cell
200 West Morgan Street
Suite 100
Raleigh, NC 27601
Dallas.Woodhouse@afphq.org

Advancing every North Carolinian's right to economic freedom and opportunity

Please join Americans For Prosperity by visiting: http://americansforprosperity.org/coming-soon

Back on Uncle Sam's plantation

Star Parker - Syndicated Columnist

Six years ago I wrote a book called Uncle Sam's Plantation . I wrote the book to tell my own story of what I saw living inside the welfare state and my own transformation out of it.

I said in that book that indeed there are two Americas -- a poor America on socialism and a wealthy America on capitalism.

I talked about government programs like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS), Emergency Assistance to Needy Families with Children (EANF), Section 8 Housing, and Food Stamps.

A vast sea of perhaps well-intentioned government programs, all initially set into motion in the 1960s by Democrats, that were going to lift the nation's poor out of poverty.

A benevolent Uncle Sam welcomed mostly poor black Americans onto the government plantation. Those who accepted the invitation switched mindsets from "How do I take care of myself?" to "What do I have to do to stay on the plantation?"

Instead of solving economic problems, government welfare socialism created monstrous moral and spiritual problems -- the kind of problems that are inevitable when individuals turn responsibility for their lives over to others.

The legacy of American socialism is our blighted inner cities, dysfunctional inner city schools, and broken black families.

Through God's grace, I found my way out. It was then that I understood what freedom meant and how great this country is.

I had the privilege of working on welfare reform in 1996 which was passed by a Republican controlled Congress.

I thought we were on the road to moving socialism out of our poor black communities and replacing it with wealth-producing American capitalism.

But, incredibly, we are now going in the opposite direction.

Instead of poor America on socialism becoming more like rich American on capitalism, rich America on capitalism is becoming like poor America on socialism.

Uncle Sam has welcomed our banks onto the plantation and they have said, "Thank you, Suh."

Now, instead of thinking about what creative things need to be done to serve customers, they are thinking about what they have to tell Massah in order to get their cash.

There is some kind of irony that this is all happening under our first black president on the 200th anniversary of the birthday of Abraham Lincoln.

Worse, socialism seems to be the element of our new young president. And maybe even more troubling, our corporate executives seem happy to move onto the plantation.

In an op-Ed on the opinion page of the Washington Post , Mr. Obama is clear that the goal of his trillion dollar spending plan is much more than short term economic stimulus.

"This plan is more than a prescription for short-term spending -- it's a strategy for America' s long-term growth and opportunity in areas such as renewable energy, healthcare, and education."

Perhaps more incredibly, Obama seems to think that government taking over an economy is a new idea. Or that massive growth in government can take place "with unprecedented transparency and accountability."

Yes, sir, we heard it from Jimmy Carter when he created the Department of Energy, the Synfuels Corporation, and the Department of Education.

Or how about the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 -- The War on Poverty -- which President Johnson said "...does not merely expand old programs or improve what is already being done. It charts a new course. It strikes at the causes, not just the consequences of poverty."

Trillions of dollars later, black poverty is the same. But black families are not, with triple the incidence of single-parent homes and out-of-wedlock births.

It's not complicated. Americans can accept Barack Obama's invitation to move onto the plantation. Or they can choose personal responsibility and freedom.

Does anyone really need to think about what the choice should be?