Tea Party convention devises constitutional amendment

Virginia Tea Party groups on Friday proposed a constitutional amendment to scrap both the corporate income tax and the individual income tax in Virginia.
Conservative activist John Taylor said elimination of the two taxes would do far more to attract businesses to Virginia than the incentives that the General Assembly passed this year at the behest of Gov. Bob McDonnell.
The legislative agenda capped the first day of the two-day conference that organizers said would bring at least 2,100 activists to the Greater Richmond Convention Center.
In addition to the tax repeals, the Tea Party will sponsor a proposed constitutional amendment to make it harder for governments to use eminent domain to seize private property.
Taylor said the Virginia Department of Transportation, the Virginia Association of Counties and the Virginia Municipal league are trying to loosen an eminent-domain law that the General Assembly passed in 2007, so a constitutional amendment is the only way to prevent weakening of the law.
"This is going to be a slugfest," he added.
Legislative proposals that the Tea Party will get behind include a bill to encourage education tax credits that would make it easier for parents to send their children to a private school, a bill that would bar localities from establishing sanctuaries for illegal immigrants and a bill that would free Virginia products from federal regulation if the products are produced and sold solely within the state.
The convention began yesterday with Jamie Radtke, head of the Virginia Tea Party Patriots Federation and one of the event's organizers, saying both political parties had failed.
In a darkened hall festooned with signs, Radtke said that Virginia made history when it helped push through the U.S. Constitution and that Virginia can make history again with the largest-ever Tea Party convention.
"Congress, the president, both political parties and our political system" have failed the people, said Radtke.
Some attendees at the convention wore "Don't Tread On Me" T-shirts. Many more had "Guns Save Lives" lapel stickers. "Virginia Is For Freedom Lovers" was another popular sticker.
Bishop E.W. Jackson of Chesapeake, founder of Exodus Faith Ministries International and one of the convention's keynote speakers, brought the crowd to its feet with a rousing address that criticized congressional Republicans for being "complacent" and Democrats for being "arrogant."
Jackson, who is black, said the Tea Party is neither racist nor hateful, and welcomes anyone who values the Constitution.
Another keynote speaker, Fox News commentator Dick Morris, predicted that Republicans will win control of the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate in the Nov. 2 elections.
A booth was set up to sign up volunteers to drive to Delaware to help U.S. Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell, who is backed by the Tea Party.
O'Donnell, who won a surprise nomination in Delaware's Sept. 14 GOP primary, has struggled to explain some of her public statements, such as her admission in a 1999 television program that she once "dabbled into witchcraft."
Morris said Republicans could have a net gain of as many as 100 House seats Nov. 2 because Republican voters are more enthusiastic than Democratic voters. Republicans need to gain 39 House seats and 10 Senate seats to take control of Congress.
Morris, who once was a consultant to President Bill Clinton, said, "The Tea Party is purging the Republican Party." He blamed Obama for fomenting what he called an anti-business attitude that has led to high unemployment.
Virginia Thomas, the wife of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and the founder of a conservative website, Liberty Central, LLC., implored the attendees to stay focused through the Nov. 2 election.
"The hard left is trying to demonize us . . . ," she said. "We have 24 days to push hard against the radical Democratic agenda." She also urged prayer ahead of the election.