OurAmericanInitiative - We are ready to light the fuse

Friends,

 

Four states, four Live Free campus events, and I have good news to report: From what I have seen and heard this week, America’s young people are ready to enlist in the Liberty movement.

 

In Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and Missouri, hundreds of students turned out to Our America’s events, and they came loaded with great questions, great energy and an exciting desire to mobilize for smaller government and bigger freedom.  Next week, we go to New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and Utah -- and I fully expect to see the same energy and excitement.  

 

Photo provided by Melissa Bowen.

 

Why does it matter that these young people will take time away from exams and papers and fun to show up in an auditorium and talk about liberty?  It matters because America, as always, is changing.  It is changing as new attitudes, new faces and new understanding of the costs of a big, intrusive government begin to have an impact on the “system”.  

 

Just this week, a Pew Poll showed, for the first time in their surveys, that a majority of Americans support legalizing marijuana.  Gallup, who has been asking Americans about legalization since 1969, when more than 80% of Americans opposed it, has found a similar shift.  On marriage equality, even members of that most stubborn institution, the U.S. Senate, are “evolving” at a steady pace, with even so-called conservatives expressing support for gay marriage.  That was unthinkable a few short years ago.

 

I personally don’t believe these are isolated issues.  As I travel the country, I am seeing these shifts as part of a larger recognition that individual freedom and liberty cannot be entrusted to the government. Young people, especially, see that -- regardless of personal opinions -- government cannot and should not choose which Americans enjoy individual rights.

 

Increasingly, they see that, if left to its own devices, government will produce the kind of hypocrisy that embraces alcohol use while criminalizing marijuana.  They understand that, if we let it, government will pry its way into every aspect of our personal lives, from our cell phones to our bank accounts to our computers.  And they understand that a national debt approaching $17 trillion is a greater threat to their futures than Iran or North Korea will ever be.

 

The Our America Initiative exists to give voice to these and other issues -- and to plant a flag around which Americans can rally on behalf of smaller government, greater liberty and real economic freedom.  Believe me, millions of Americans are ready to rally.  But they need leadership and they need organization to turn their attitudes into action.  That is precisely what the Our America Initiative is offering.

 

But...organizing a nationwide campus tour is no small task.  It takes time, it takes people, and yes, it takes money.  Posters and brochures have to be printed.  Radio ads have to be produced and placed.  News coverage has to be coordinated.  The same goes for our other activities, such as the Liberty Strategy Conference we are hosting in Salt Lake City next week and media tours to Washington DC and New York later this month.

 

Your support is critical.  If you haven’t, I wish you could join me at one of our campus events. You would see what I am seeing:  Liberty is a rocket just waiting to be ignited. Your contribution at Our America Initiative is the match that will light the fuse.

 

I hope I can count on your help.  With your financial support of the Our America Initiative, we can take the message of smaller government and greater freedom directly to the millions of Americans who are fed up with the status quo and ready to get to work changing it.

 

Have a great weekend, and stay tuned for more reports from the great events we will be hosting next week!

 

Thanks, as always, for your friendship and support.

.

Gov. Gary Johnson

Honorary Chairman

Our America Initiative

 

 

 

P.S.   To see more photos from our Live Free events, visit my Facebook page.

Our America - Tipping Point

Friends,

A few days ago, I announced the schedule for the first leg of our Live Free campus tour.  The response so far is amazing!  Hundreds of young people and liberty activists are already signing up to attend.  If you missed it, here is the schedule.

Also, in case you missed it, we will be hosting informal gatherings at each stop to give us all a chance to catch up, share ideas and talk about what we’re doing with the Our America Initiative.  Details for each of these gatherings can be found here. If you live nearby -- or even if you don’t -- please join us!

The response we are seeing so far to these upcoming events confirms something I have believed for a while now:  I am convinced that liberty is reaching a tipping point in America. The positive reaction to the filibuster of the CIA Director’s confirmation over drone policy,  the emergence from the shadows of so-called conservatives in support of marriage equality,  and even the Washington Post’s scoffing at Obama’s handling of the miniscule sequester spending “cuts”... All of these are signs that the fundamental ideas of smaller government, greater individual liberty and social acceptance can no longer be pushed aside by the big government establishment.  

This will either be a brief moment in history, or the beginning of a real return to the principles of liberty.  Which of those it is frankly depends on us.  The Our America Initiative was created precisely to foster the kinds of debates that are beginning to occur -- after decades of false policy “debates” among politicians who are really just slightly different versions of a statist, big government status quo.

Indeed, I see a real opportunity, a real tipping point.  But opportunities are meaningless if we don’t seize them.  The liberty movement must come together, adopt smart strategies, and take our ideas to the millions of Americans who, perhaps more than ever, are ready to hear them.  

To that end, April 11 - 12, Our America is hosting a Liberty Strategy Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. Experts and panelists from both inside and outside the liberty movement will join us to lead discussions about strategy, messaging and organizing. And we’ll have plenty of time to exchange ideas, make plans and identify ways to have an ever greater impact on both politics and policy.  

I invite you to join us in Salt Lake for what I am confident will be an extremely productive gathering of leaders and activists from across the country.  Go to www.facebook.com/event for the conference schedule and details -- and to register.  

We have much to do in the months ahead.  Our Live Free campus tour, the Strategy Conference, and a range of other activities are all geared to build momentum for the ideas we share -- the ideas that will set America free from stifling big government.  Your support is critical.  I can’t do this alone.  If you can’t join us on the Tour or at the Strategy Conference next month, you can can still be involved by simply going to Our America Initiative and making a contribution to Our America that will help make ALL of these efforts successful.  We can’t do it without your help!

We are in exciting times.  Your support is essential -- and greatly appreciated.  And I hope to see you soon!

Thank you,

Governor Gary Johnson

 
Honorary Chairman
Our America Initiative


P.S.  Don’t forget to check the schedule for the first phase of our Live Free Tour, which kicks off April 1 in Ohio.  Join us if you can!

OurAmericanInitiative - Gov. Gary Johnson Upcoming Event: Reddit.com

Gov. Gary Johnson Honorary Chairman "I Am A"  on Reddit, Tuesday, March 12. Reddit Tuesday, March 12, 2013 at 3 p.m. PST / 6 p.m EST, Gov. Gary Johnson will host a Reddit IAma "I Am A."  In an IAmA post, Gary Johnson will post what he is, and other people will ask Gary Johnson about himself and about the important issues of the day.      The 60-minute on-line event will give participants a chance to ask the former New Mexico Governor and Honorary Chairman of the Our America Initiative questions via the popular website, Reddit.com. To ask a question, visit www.reddit.com at 3 p.m. PST / 6 p.m EST, Tuesday, and just search "Gov. Gary Johnson".  Governor Johnson is anxious to hear from you!   Please join us! Read More LIVE FREE TOUR! Coming this Spring: Governor Gary Johnson will be kicking off the Our America Initiative Live Free Tour. Visit Gov. Gary Johnson's Facebook page for updates on his spring tour across the country. Keep liberty alive! For More Information

P.S.  Check out CafePress.com/OurAmericaInitiative for some great gear, posters, etc. from Our America!

GOLDWATER, ROEMER AND MACKEY JOIN THE HONORARY BOARD OF THE OUR AMERICA INITIATIVE

March 4, 2013, Santa Fe, NM -- Former Congressman Barry Goldwater, Jr., former Louisiana Governor and presidential candidate Buddy Roemer and Whole Foods co-founder and co-CEO John Mackey have joined the Honorary Board of the Our America Initiative, an issue advocacy organization whose Honorary Chairman is former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson.

 

Announcing the Honorary Board members, Johnson said, “The fundamental purpose of the Our America Initiative is to stimulate an honest and fresh public dialogue about the key issues of the day. It is difficult to find three individuals better qualified to do just that than Barry Goldwater, Jr., Buddy Roemer and John Mackey.  

 

“Barry Goldwater, Jr., is a nationally-respected voice for limited government and greater personal liberty. Whether it is the national news media or on a college campus, when Barry speaks, they listen.  I value his counsel as a member of Our America’s Honorary Board.

 

“Likewise, as a former Member of Congress and Governor, Buddy Roemer has established himself as one of the nation’s leading advocates for real reform of our broken political system, and knows what it means to challenge the status quo.  

 

“I am also extremely gratified to have John Mackey on the board.  John Mackey is one of the great entrepreneurs of our age as well as the leading advocate for Conscious Capitalism.  His positive, purpose-driven vision and example will help us revive the free enterprise system that made the U.S. prosperous."

 

“While each of these gentlemen approach the issues facing us today from slightly different directions, as do I, we all agree that it is past time to put politics aside and have an honest conversation in this country about where we are headed.  That is what the Our America Initiative is all about, and the input of these distinguished leaders will be invaluable.”

 

The Our America Initiative is a nonpartisan 501(c)4 organization dedicated to promoting an open public discussion of policy issues facing the nation.  Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson is the organization’s Honorary Chairman.

 

 

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FOR MORE INFORMATION: www.OurAmericaInitiative.com

OurAmericanInitiative - Less freedom doesn’t make anyone safer

Friends,

Why is it that Government almost always responds to a crisis or tragedy by attacking the rights and privacy of law-abiding citizens?  

After 9/11, we got the Patriot Act, which put into motion one of the most unpatriotic attacks on the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and individual liberty in our lifetimes.  Everything from our phones to our emails to even our library cards and bank accounts became the government’s “business”.  Under this continuing attack, the NDAA and other laws have taken us to a point where citizens can be detained indefinitely and, in fact, assassinated in the name of protecting us.

Now, in the aftermath of Newtown and other recent tragic and senseless crimes, Obama and his friends in Congress are reacting by -- you guessed it -- doing two basic things:  First, they are rolling out Executive Orders and legislation to further chip away at a Second Amendment that even the Supreme Court has ruled grants us individual rights to keep and bear arms to protect ourselves.  And second, they are clamoring for deeper and broader background checks and looking for ways to get more information about our “mental health”.  

In short, their solution is more government, less freedom for us, and more of our information going into massive government databases.  Somebody has to say: STOP.

Somebody has to speak the truth and stand up for the fact that, even in the wake of despicable criminal acts, less freedom for us and more power for government does NOT MAKE ANYONE IN AMERICA SAFER.  

Speaking these truths -- and mobilizing Americans who don’t want to let an ever-growing government take away more of their freedoms -- is the entire idea behind the Our America Initiative, of which I am the Honorary Chairman.

Today, it is the Second Amendment and our privacy.  Tomorrow, it will be greater government control of the Internet.  And in the weeks ahead, it will be critical decisions about the debt ceiling and whether Washington will finally have the guts to cut spending and face the reality of an unsustainable $16 Trillion debt.  

My intent as the Honorary Chairman is to help the Our America Initiative defend our liberty and our economic freedom from the nonstop attacks by the government.  But we need your help as well.  Our planned campus tours, advertising, media appearances and events all require the financial support of friends and activists such as you.

We have worked very hard to put an organization in place that can have a very real impact on the public and policy debates of the day -- but not without your help.  

I am more convinced than ever that America is ready to reject Big Government as the solution to all our problems, and return to the idea that a strong and prosperous America is one where freedom and liberty are valued and protected -- not taken away by the politicians.

I hope you will take a moment to go to www.OurAmericaInitative.com today and make a contribution that will help us give liberty a voice in the conversation as the politicians make decisions that will shape our futures for decades to come.  You have my personal assurance that your contribution will be used wisely and carefully to give voice to the principles and concerns we share.

Since the Our America Initiative is a non-partisan advocacy organization, contributions are not limited and can be accepted from not only individuals, but also corporations and other organizations.  Every dollar counts! Please contribute today at www.OurAmericaInitative.com, or send your check to the address below.

Our America Initiative
PO Box 1985
Salt Lake City, UT 84110-1985

I hope to hear from you soon.  We have a lot of work to do!

Thanks,

Governor Gary Johnson
Honorary Chairman
Our America Initiative

P.S.  Check out CafePress.com/OurAmerciaInitiative for some great gear, posters, etc. from Our America!