Friends of Liberty,

Well, here it is … the second weekly “Liberty Alert.” Now that I’ve managed to produce two of them, there’s hope that I’ll keep this trend alive!

For those of you who are new to the Meetup group, I’d like to welcome you to the HCLP! We meet monthly on the fourth Saturday of the month, at 7pm at various places around Chattanooga, although this month we’re not meeting due to our participation in the Tea Party protest (more below).

As always, if there are any items of interest or concern to HCLP members, please let me know and I’ll broadcast the news to the group.

Quote of the Week (courtesy of the LP of Indiana) – “Politicians should dress like NASCAR drivers so we can see who their corporate sponsors are.”

1. Tax Day Tea Party – As we mentioned last week, the HCLP will be participating in the Tax Day Tea Party at Ross’s Landing this coming Wednesday. The event will be from 4pm-7pm. More information is available at http://chattanoogateaparty.com. If you are planning on attending the event (and have not done so already) please go to that web site and RSVP so that the organizers can have an accurate idea of how many people will be in attendance. Our primary purpose is of course to send a message to government at all levels that we’re sick and tired of out-of-control wasteful spending and government largesse. However, this will also be an excellent opportunity to connect with other people in our community with libertarian ideals, and educate them about the HCLP and the LP.

2. Chattanooga City Council Meeting – City Council meetings are held each Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. in the City Council Building at 1000 Lindsay St. Meeting agendas are posted on the City Council web page (http://www.chattanooga.gov/City_Council/110_1427.htm) each week several days prior to the actual meeting. I encourage everyone who is a citizen of Chattanooga to review the agenda each week, and contact their representative on the Council about any items of concern. If you don’t know who represents your district, email me and I’ll help you find out. If you’re able to do so, please attend the meetings as well. Let’s work together to send a clear message that we are paying attention to our local government and care!

I will be Twittering updates during any meeting I’m able to attend using the HCLP Twitter account (http://twitter.com/hclptn).

This week’s meeting agenda has been posted at http://tr.im/iExq

3. Hamilton County Commission Meetings – I’m still learning about how the County Commission meetings work around here. Unfortunately, the information on the county’s web site isn’t terribly complete. However, a schedule is available here: http://www.hamiltontn.gov/commission/meetings.aspx. Agendas for the meetings are posted online, but apparently not regularly; for instance the most recent agenda posted is for the April 1 meeting, and there has been one meeting since then (April 9) and yet another is scheduled next Wednesday (April 15). I hope to try to attend these meetings as regularly as possible in the future.

4. Posse Comitatus/4th Amendment Violations in TN – Thanks to people like you who contacted folks in the Tennessee government, the seat belt check in Whiteville, TN that had been planned on April 4th and would have involved the military was cancelled. However, operations like this HAVE taken place in the past (see http://tr.im/iExo). This demonstrates why it is imperative that we be paying attention to what is going on and voice our displeasure whenever possible. The government does listen and respond!

That’s it for this week! As always, I encourage you all to watch our web site (http://hclp.org) and follow our Twitter account (http://twitter.com/hclptn).

Have a great week!

Best,
Jeremy