We are still significantly short of funds and time commitments to make the State Fair project work. Please see the Yahoo discussion group home page for details.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ConstitutionPartyofVirginia/

Unless we receive the required amount of contributions by Friday, 4 May, I am afraid the project will go by the wayside and we will miss a wonderful opportunity to publicize the party to 250,000 people from around our great commonwealth.

Dr. Robert Owens now has a website for his Virginia State Senate campaign.

www.owensforsenate.net

Dr. Robert Owens is running for the Virginia Senate in the 16th District and I'm sure he can use some financial help and volunteers for his campaign.

Please send contributions to:

Owens For Senate
12750 Jefferson Davis Highway #104
Chester, VA 23831-5308

The CPVA is looking into having a booth at the Virginia State Fair in Richmond, 27 September - 7 October. We need to raise approximately $1,500 and get volunteers to man the booth on all 11 days of the Fair. Please go to the Yahoo discussion group for details.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ConstitutionPartyofVirginia/

Eli Jones is running for the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors and I'm sure he can use some financial help for his campaign. Please send contributions to:

Friends of Eli Jones
P.O. Box 5022
Midlothian, Va 23112

You can contact Eli at: eliformatoaca@gmail.com

Here is a quick recap on the state meeting that was held in Colonial Heights on Saturday. First of all, many thanks to Maggie Colburn for arranging the meeting on such short notice. The facilities at the Colonial Heights Public Library were perfect for the occasion. Because there was not the required 14 day notice this was an "unofficial" meeting.

I think most folks were surprised and pleased at the number of people who were able to attend. There was something on the order of 25 attendees ranging from the young to the not so young; from the retired to the not so retired; and from those who are veterans of the political wars to novices. Thanks to everyone for taking the time and effort to attend!

A big shout out to Eli Jones, who at the tender age of 18 is running for the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors! He will need volunteers and money for his campaign and he can be reached via email at: constitutionalcourage@yahoo.com. He has a committee and PO Box so please be generous with your financial and time. Other attendees discussed the possibility of running for state office this fall and for federal office in 2008. More to follow on additional candidates this fall once some qualification issues get resolved.

There was a consensus that for the time being dividing the state into regions based on congressional districts is probably a good way to go until we have sufficient numbers to stand up a individual district organizations. The idea being that each region will have someone to coordinate events and cooperation within and between the congressional districts in that particular region. I will post my ideas on setting up the regions based on the polling of members on the Yahoo discussion board as to where they live. IF YOU'RE A MEMBER OF THE YAHOO GROUP AND HAVEN'T VOTED YET, PLEASE DO. IF YOU'RE NOT A MEMBER OF THE GROUP PLEASE JOIN AND VOTE! YOU CAN JOIN AT: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ConstitutionPartyofVirginia/

There was a back and forth discussion on the importance of publicizing the party by attending country fairs, festivals, gun shows etc while being having actual candidates to answer the question, "Great, who do you having running and what are they running for?" The fact that we had such good attendance at the meeting I believe was a serious boost to morale (I know it was for me), and I think we can anticipate more people stepping forward to run for office. Details on possible participation in the Virginia State Fair will be forthcoming in a separate post

Finally, there was a discussion on the state platform. Rather than going over it plank by plank, Howard asked that everyone read it over and send specific language to Alan Potter (Email: apotter123@comcast.net) by April 14th so it can be debated and adopted at an official state meeting sometime in May. If you need a copy of the platform please ask on the Yahoo board and someone will email one to you.

Here are ten of the earmarks aka $20 billion in pork, in the Iraq supplemental passed yesterday by your United States Senate:

10. Allows transfer of funds from holiday ornament sales in the Senate gift shop

9. $3 million in funding for sugar cane

8. $3.5 million in additional funding for guided tours of the Capitol

7. $12 million for the Forest Service money which the President requested in the non-emergency fiscal year 2008 budget

6. $20 million for insect damage reimbursements in Nevada

5. $24 million in funding for sugar beets

4. $75 million for salaries and expenses for the Farm Service Agency

3. $165.9 million for fisheries disaster relief, funded through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

2. $40 million for the Tree Assistance Program

1. $100 million in funding for the 2008 national party conventions.

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=20005

And this is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

Democrat Proposes Making Withdrawal Date Secret:
Only Congress, White House and Iraqi Government Would Know Plan

In one of the more unusual proposals to emerge in the Senate debate on Iraq withdrawal, Sen. Mark Pryor wants to keep any plans for bringing troops home a secret.

The Arkansas Democrat is a key holdout on his party's proposal to approve $122 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan while setting a goal of March 31, 2008, for winding up military operations in Iraq. Unlike the plan's Republican opponents, Pryor wants a withdrawal deadline of some kind. He just doesn't want anyone outside the White House, Congress and the Iraqi government to know what it is.

"My strong preference would be to have a classified plan and a classified timetable that should be shared with Congress," Pryor said yesterday. A public deadline would tip off the enemy, "who might just bide their time and wait for us to leave," he said. "Then you'd have chaos and mayhem and instability."

Pryor said a classified plan would be provided by the president, shepherded by Senate committees and ultimately shared with Congress and Iraqi leaders. He is confident that the plan would remain secret, because Congress is entrusted with secrets "all the time."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032602034_pf.html

I know there is a spectrum of opinion on what is going on in Iraq, but how can anyone keep a straight face when a U.S. Senator can say something like this? Within 48 hours of such a deadline being adopted our friends at the New York Times and Washington Post would have it on the front page.

This, combined with the $20 billion of pork in the Senate version of this supplemental (can you say Robert Byrd?), is getting beyond embarassing.

One of these days we will get some people in Congress whose qualifications consist of more than having a huge ego, no shame, and a bottomless checking account. By then of course it may be too late.

But one can always hope.

A statewide meeting is scheduled for 1 to 5 PM on Saturday, March 31st.

The location will be the Colonial Heights Public Library, at 1000 Yacht Basin Drive, Colonial Heights, Virginia 23834.

In addition to learning more about the party, planning for this year (always an election year in Virginia), and getting to meet others fed up with the two-party monopoly, you'll get to meet the founder of the Constitution Party and Chairman of the Virginia Constitution Party, Howard Phillips.

Please go to the CPVA Yahoo discussion group and go the Polls section to let us know if you will there.

'All that is holy' gagged at America's birthplace
Jamestown guides allegedly ordered to say 'religious' instead of 'Christian'

Tour guides at the American birthplace of Jamestown, Va., are being prevented from explaining Christian history and are under orders to refer to items such as the Ten Commandments and Lord's Prayer only as "religious" in nature.

Read it all.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54712