Below are the remarks I made at the Press Conference on Thursday, June 24th at 10:00AM at the Orange County Supervisor of Elections office in Orlando.

I have the unique and distinct honor of having been involved in the very first conference calls with patriots from around the country back in February of last year that kicked off the national tea party movement. On those calls, we planned the first round of protests in 50 cities nationwide on February 27th, 2009. Since that time, thousands of hours have been dedicated by volunteers across the state of Florida, as well as in every state of the union.

This morning, I have the privilege of speaking on behalf of a coalition of local tea party groups as we stand together with this very important message.

The CENTRAL FLORIDA TEA PARTY COUNCIL, an alliance of local tea party movement leaders, today calls for the immediate withdrawal of Florida TEA Party candidate Peg Dunmire from Florida’s District 8 Congressional race.

With this week’s unsettling disclosure, in numerous press accounts, of a financial connection between Democrat Congressman Alan Grayson’s campaign and the Florida TEA Party political party, the legitimacy of TEA Party candidates across Florida, including Peg Dunmire, can no longer be defended by any prudent observer.

Accordingly, we, as a fair representation of the actual tea party movement, appeal to the integrity of Ms. Dunmire and all other Florida TEA Party contenders to make the honorable decision and protect their individual character, and standing, by renouncing their TEA candidacies, effective immediately.

The recently formed Florida TEA Party political party, is a Tea Party in name only. They have been engaged in a litany of questionable actions since their formation and have never been connected to or found any support from the actual tea party movement. The key organizers of the tea party movement here in central Florida stand united with the leadership throughout the state of Florida. We do not support the Florida TEA Party political party.

At the core of the tea party movement is the concept that We The People will decide our candidates. We’re upset with political parties, the establishment, playing favorites and picking our candidates for us. What Doug Guetzloe and Fred O’Neal have done is hijacked a name we have been working thousands of hours volunteering for,…and all they have done is become a new establishment, with corrupt party bosses, where they pick candidates for us,…and now, we’re able to track sources of money.

As a result, we ask that Peg Dunmire and the rest of the TEA candidates, help us bring integrity back to Washington and Tallahassee,…help us bring integrity and ethics back to the political process,…disassociate yourself from the corrupt Florida TEA Party political party…. join with us in the real, true tea party movement as we work to bring back fiscal responsibility in government, to protect the Constitution, and to limit the size of our Federal government.

Thank you.

The schedule below is subject to change as some discussions may take longer than others. The times below are mere guidelines.

Call Saturday between 4-6pm EST and voice your opinion at (407) 774-8255.

“We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution” – Abraham Lincoln

4:00 – Intro
- Upcoming topics/guests.
- Grayson interrupting meeting (play audio from meeting).
- We have BOTH videos on our website.
- http://www.teapartypatriotslive.com/2010/04/09/alan-grayson-interrupts-republican-district-meeting/
- Tom’s confrontation with Grayson.

4:17 – FL Healthcare Freedom Act – State Rep Sandy Adams
- Sandy Adams to talk about the latest in Tallahassee in the fight against federal mandates.
- Upcoming Tea Party on Monday and Thursday.

4:30 – Matt Falconer In-Studio
- Matt Falconer in-studio.
- Matt’s confrontation with Grayson at meeting.

4:45 – More with Matt Falconer in-studio
- Tea Party Political Party Mailer.

5:00 – Intro – Steve Bannon – Writer / Director of “Generation Zero” (link)
- Upcoming Tea Party mention.
- Hoyt Introduce the movie, “Generation Zero” .
- Play audio of trailer -
- Introduce Steve Bannon, (bio) writer/director of “Generation Zero”. (he’ll be live from the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans, and he just finished a tea party with Lou Dobbs).
- Talk about the movie.

5:15 – 5:45 – More with Steve Bannon
- Topics to talk through:
- “Generation Zero” Movie.
- Orchestrated “Racists!” setup by left at the ‘Kill the Bill Rally’.
- $100,000 Challenge by Andrew Breitbart for anyone to present the video.
- Breitbart’s column: http://bigjournalism.com/abreitbart/2010/04/02/barack-obamas-helter-skelter-insane-clown-posse-alinsky-planes-to-deconstruct-america/
- This presents the need for a rapid response TO the media by the tea party movement, showing a professional unified response.
- Launch of the ‘The National Tea Party Federation’ – loose coalition, no leadership, no entity, no fundraising, just collaboration of media messaging to upcoming allegations and attacks. http://www.TheNationalTeaPartyFederation.com.
- Upcoming plans by the left to discredit our movement.

5:45 – Upcoming Tea Party

Should be an AWESOME show!!

Upcoming / Ongoing Events -
- VIP Luncheon http://www.teapartypatriotslive.com/2010/03/01/america-unplugged-vip-luncheon-april-12th/.
- April 12th Event – Tea Party @ Orlando City Hall at 6:30pm http://www.teapartypatriotslive.com/2010/02/15/orlando-tea-party-announces-tax-day-plans/.
- April 15th Event – Tea Party in Kissimmee (TBD).
- American Heritage Series, Wednesday’s at the Coffee Shop in MetroWest http://www.teapartypatriotslive.com/2010/02/02/american-heritage-series-coffee-shop-in-metrowest/.
- American Heritage Series, Friday’s at Eastland Baptist http://www.teapartypatriotslive.com/2010/03/02/american-heritage-series-fridays-at-eastland-baptist/.
 

Unanswered question: How did Alan Grayson know about this meeting?  Who informed him?  Was this staged?

Matthew Falconer, candidate for Orange County Mayor, quickly challenged Alan’s rudeness.  Grayson demanded not to be interrupted, but Falconer quickly reminded the congressman that he is in fact interrupting their meeting. 

Linda O’Keefe, member of the Orange County Republican Executive Committee and extraordinary patriot volunteer with the Orlando Tea Party said, “I’m wondering if Grayson realizes that we do still, for now, have the right to assemble! But can’t we have a meeting without being interrupted by our congressman?”

Currently, there are 12 Republican candidates looking to send Alan Grayson to the unemployment line in November.

Tom Tillison of the Tea Party Patriots Live radio show and the Orlando Tea Party, had quite a lively discussion with Alan afterwards for 10 minutes.  Tillison said, “I let him know that he’s a congressman and he needs to act like one.  I reminded him that these are his constinuents.” Tillison asked Grayson, “Don’t you feel that you at least owe them an explanation for your recent votes?”, to which Alan replied, “I don’t owe them anything, they’re trying to defeat me.” 

Tillison followed, “You are a U.S. Congressman and you approach these people acting like a thug.”….to which Grayson responded that he was “being attacked.” 

Congrerssman Alan Grayson said, “There are 308 million people that pay my salary. Do you know what that breaks down to per person?” After Tom shrugged his shoulders insinuating ‘I don’t know’, Grayson repeatd the question with emphasis.  Tom quickly replied, “I have no idea”. ”It’s pennies on the dollar”, said Grayson.  He later said, “I took a pay cut when I took this job”.

Grayson threatened Falconer by saying that he’ll spend thousands of dollars making sure he doesn’t get elected. Question: Is it legal or atleast unethical for a sitting congressman to threaten to influence a local election?  Why is Matt Falconer, running for local Mayor, even on the radar of Alan Grayson?

We’ll talk with Tom Tillison and Matthew Falconer about their discussion in detail during tomorrow’s radio show heard from 4-6pm EST on 660AM WORL in Orlando, or streaming live at http://www.TeaPartyPatriotsLive.com.  Matt Falconer will be joining us in-studio.

Matthew Falconer, early Friday, released this statement:

“On Thursday April 8^th I was attending a meeting of the Orange County Republican Executive Committee at a Perkins Family Restaurant in Windermere. About 30 Republicans were meeting when Democratic Congressman Alan Grayson barged into our meeting ranting about how we put spies into an Organizing for America meeting.

As I was sitting with Orange County Republican Chairman Lew Oliver, I stood up to Grayson and demand he apologize to Lew for the vial comments he made recently (Grayson said “Lew Oliver could not find a $20 bill if it was stuck in his A**”). Grayson yelled at me for interrupting him when I reminded Grayson he was interrupting our meeting.

The conflict was caught on video showing Alan Grayson, a U.S. Congressman, standing in the middle of a family restaurant screaming at his constituents. Politics aside, I do not think the man has the emotional stability or integrity to represent us in the U.S. Congress.

Grayson pledged to use his own personal funds to defeat me in my race for Orange County Mayor (supporting his Democratic friend Bill Segal). He then told me to get my “a** out of his face.”

I am in awe of the lack of respect he showed for the customers of this restaurant and his constituents.”

Fortunately, one of the attendees grabbed their phone and recorded Alan Grayson displaying his class to his constituents.

In another video, Alan Grayson (at 3:00 in the video) challenged the female recording the video and abruptly leaves.

Question to be answered:  How did Alan Grayson hear about the meeting?

Ask questions in the presence of the District 8 candidates in attendance, reflect carefully on their responses and decide which candidate best represents your values…the one candidate that is most worthy of your vote!

“Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote that he is not making a present or a compliment to please an individual — or at least that he ought not so to do; but that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country.”  – Samuel Adams

The Citizen Interviews have been scheduled in various regions of the district, with the very first Candidate / Citizen Forum this Thursday, February 18th.

Seating is limited, so please RSVP with Suki@TeaPartyPatriotsLive.com

THIS Thursday, February 18th
6:45 PM – 8:15 PM

Hiawassee Branch Library
7391 W. Colonial Dr.
Orlando, FL 32818

Let’s win back our district, our state, and our country!

The ‘Tea Party Patriots Live’ radio show can be heard every Saturday from 4-6PM EST on 660AM WORL in Orlando or streaming live on the web at
http://www.TeaPartyPatriotsLive.com/webcam

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Be sure to forward this email!! 

To learn more about Dan Fanelli, visit his website at http://www.fanelliforcongress.org/.

To find out more about the ‘Tea Party Patriots Live’ radio show, tune in Saturday’s from 4-6pm EST on 660AM WORL in Orlando, or streaming live at http://www.TeaPartyPatriotsLive.com.

Let us know what you think of the interview. Press Play below to hear the interview commercial-free.

Enclosed in this packet is preliminary research into the use of stimulus funds for Rhodes College in the Central Florida area. We have provided a summary of the results of our findings thus far and source links and/or hard copies of the relevant documents.

This research began as a simple inquiry into how the stimulus money was being spent in our geographic region. Noticing the significant amount that was granted to Rhodes College, we embarked up on what has proven to be an eye-opening investigation.

We are citizens who are concerned with the extraordinary levels of waste, fraud, and abuse at the federal level. Rhodes College and its parent corporation, Corinthian College, deserve further scrutiny. It is our hope that this report will encourage you, in your capacity, to conduct an in-depth investigation of this matter so that more can be discovered.

Please contact Linda O’Keefe for further information at linda@americanpatriotspac.com

Sincerely,

Linda O’Keefe
Bernadine Galate
Suki Carder

Corinthian College: The ACORN of Education?

The Department of Education, under the Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, is responsible for the distribution of $44 billion to stimulate the economy by saving or creating jobs. But, one has to wonder if the Department of Education is being a good steward of these funds when it is giving billions to the major players of the post-secondary, for-profit education industry that is plagued by waste, fraud and abuse of government funds. Government watchdog agencies are calling for better oversight in this field. But, is the Department of Education listening?

Our inquiry began a listing at www.Recovery.gov, where we discovered that Rhodes College, Inc. of Orlando, Florida was listed as a recipient of over $9 million of stimulus-linked funding in the form of grants. While we were not able to find a website or phonebook listing for “Rhodes College, Inc” (other than Rhodes College of Tennessee which is not affiliated), we discovered that three other colleges were listed at the same address as Rhodes College, Inc. They are Orlando College, Florida Metropolitan University and Everest University. All of these, we found, were operated by a parent company called Corinthian College, Inc.

Corinthian College, Inc., founded in 1995, is the second largest for-profit college, or “proprietary” school, in the post-secondary education industry. It owns the following schools: Rhodes College, Inc., Everest College, Everest Institute, Everest University, Everest Online, Everest-Canada, Bryman College, Titan Schools, National Institute of Technology, Florida Career College, WyoTech, Tampa College, Orlando College, and, as of October 20, 2009, Heald College.

Corinthian College, Inc. (CCi) operates over 125 schools in the U.S. and Canada and has a student enrollment of 86,000 students. CCi is a publicly traded company (NASDAQ: COCO).

Restrictions on proprietary schools, such as CCi, were lessened by the College Access and Opportunity Act of 2005. This act eliminated the “90-10” rule of 1992. The 90-10 rule required that at least 10% of for-profit schools’ revenue came from sources other than the federal student-loan program. With the elimination of this stipulation, proprietary schools have expanded at a rapid rate.

According to the most recent data, students at proprietary colleges received more than $16 billion in federal loans, grants and other aid during the 2007-2008 school year. But, proprietary schools have a higher loan default rate and lower graduation rate than nonprofit schools. And, these rates are worsening.

Class action lawsuits have been brought against CCi in Texas, Florida and California. In 2005, after the Florida State Attorney General got involved, CCi agreed to settle a class action lawsuit for misleading students about their ability to transfer credits to public colleges. In August of 2007, CCi paid $6.5 million to avoid a lawsuit by the State of California for misleading students about job-placement and career opportunities after graduation. In August of 2009, thirteen students in Texas have filed a lawsuit against CCi for false advertisement regarding job placement, education quality and misrepresentation of college credits.

Not only are the students targeting CCi! Recently, the shareholders brought legal action against CCi for violations of the federal securities laws.

CCi is not the only proprietary school with legal problems. Alta, Apollo Group, and ITT have also had lawsuits filed against them for similar reasons.

After an 18 month review, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report in August 2009 calling for more oversight from the Department of Education to avoid the waste, fraud and abuse of federal financial aid in the post secondary education proprietary industry. The report even found 2 schools guilty of changing failing admittance test scores so that prospective students would qualify for government grants, as well as the changing of failing grades to keep the students in school and thus receiving more government grant money. The Department of Education is expecting to implement new rules. When?

Even with these questionable practices, proprietary colleges continue to receive unprecedented government funding under the Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Because the Department of Education is not providing proper and timely oversight, we are calling for taxpayer watchdog agencies, concerned U.S congress members, media, and state governments to put a stop to this waste and abuse of taxpayers’ money! NOW!

______________________________________________________________________________

Sources:

“Proprietary Schools: Department of Education Oversight Needed to Help Ensure Only Eligible Students Receive Federal Student Aid” by the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO-09-600); August 2009; http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-600 .

“Agency Urges Crackdown on For-Profit Schools, Test Administrators” by Gene Trainor gtrainor@star-telegram.com; Star-Telegram; October 7, 2009; http://www.star-telegram.com/238/story/1669908.html .

“For-Profit Colleges’ Increased Lending Prompts Concerns” by Justin Pope; Community College Week; September 7, 2009; USAToday; http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-08-15-profit-college-lending_N.htm .

“School Chain to Settle Lawsuit-Corinthian Colleges Plans to Pay $6.5 million Over Claims it Inflated its Job-Placement Record” by Henry Weinstein; Los Angeles Times; August 1, 2007; http://articles.latimes.com/2007/aug/01/local/me-corinthian1.

“Bad Education” by Jeffrey Billman; Orlando Weekly; April 14, 2005. “Washington Post Buys $60M shares of Corinthian Colleges” by Erin Killian; Washington Business Journal; February 18, 2008; http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2008/02/18/daily1.html.

“Stimulus Wreckage: Despite Having been Accused of Deceptive Business Practices By the Attorney General, Former Students, and Ex-Employees, Corinthian Colleges are Getting Millions in Federal Stimulus Dollars” by Matt Smith; SF Weekly; September 30, 2009; http://www.sfweekly.com/2009-09-30/news/stimulus-wreckage

“Corinthian Colleges Expects Continuing Growth in New Students to Drive Profit, Sales in 2010”; Breaking News 24/7; August 25, 2010; http://blog.taragana.com/n/corinthian-colleges-expects-continuing-growth-in-new-students-to-drive-profit-sales-in-2010-149200

“Texas college Doesn’t Need No Education” by Holly Lafon; NBC Local Media; August 28, 2009 http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local-beat/Texas-College-Doesnt-Need-No-Education-55791542.html

“Washington Post buys $60M shares of Corinthian College” by Erin Killian; Washington Business Journal; February 18, 2008. http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local-beat/Texas-College-Doesnt-Need-No-Education-55791542.html

Corinthian College, Inc. www.cci.edu

Listing on Recovery.gov:

RHODES COLLEGES INC AWARD OVERVIEW

Agency Name: Department of Education
Project Location: ORANGE Award Number: P063P081264
Project Location – State: FL Funding Amount: $14,739
Project Location – Zip Code: 328105606
Ending Date: 09/30/2014
Congressional District: 08
Amount: $9,638,826

RECIPIENT INFORMATION (AWARD)

Recipient Name: RHODES COLLEGES INC
Recipient Address: 5421 DIPLOMAT CIR
Recipient City: ORLANDO
Recipient State: FL
Recipient Zip Code: 328105606
Congressional District: FL-08

DESCRIPTION OF WORK/SERVICE PERFORMED:

Grant Program