🚀 go-pugleaf

Date: Sun, 2000-12-24 03:57:42 -0800
> From: 2ANews <2ANews@pacops.com>
> Subject: 2ndAmNews Alert: Help Cause, Get Year-End Tax Write-Off   
>... 
> The case of FPPC versus Californians Against Corruption, Russ Howard & 
> Steve Cicero is a chilling example of the government's ability to exact 
> retribution upon grassroots gun rights activists, and to suppress our 
> freedom of expression, under the guise of "political reform".
> 
> Russ Howard was executive director of the historic effort (described below) 
> to drive Senate President David Roberti, coauthor of the Roberti-Roos 
> "Assault Weapon" ban and once California's top gun grabber, from office. 
> Thanks to that successful effort, gun control was dead in the water in 
> California for a number of years.
> 
> During the campaign, in a time of death threats, break-ins, burglaries, 
> demonization, and other harassment, Russ withheld the identities of  
> donors until Roberti was out of power, to protect them from vendettas 
> by Roberti's corrupt pals, or from ending up on lists of suspected 
> "assault weapon" owners.� Russ' withholding, though justified by the 
> Constitution and numerous Supreme Court decisions, was used as a 
> pretense to exact retribution, as a warning to other grassroots groups.
> 
> Russ and Steve were fined $808,000 in absentia, by a kangaroo court, 
> with no right to jury trial.  The selective vindictiveness of the fine was 
> highlighted on the same day when the same kangaroo court fined the 
> San Francisco 49ers just $60,000 - not for protecting free speech -  
> but for money laundering. 
> 
> Steve Cicero, another CAC leader who served as Assistant Treasurer, is a 
> long standing volunteer for the cause of liberty, and was a tireless 
> volunteer for CAC's campaigns.  He was jointly fined on a technicality even 
> though Russ advised the FPPC that Russ alone was responsible for 
> withholding the donors' identities.  Russ and Steve are now fighting this 
> oppression in the courts.
> 
> The Fair Political Practices Commission, and other government speech 
> police agencies, must be stopped.  They're so out of control that recently, 
> a duly elected California Assemblywoman was forced to step down to 
> prevent the FPPC from prosecuting her for OVERreporting her 
> contributions.  In other words, the FPPC is now abusing its dangerous 
> powers to overturn the will of the people and directly control the 
> composition of the legislature.  The legislator singled out for this coup 
> d'etat was, as you might suspect, a Republican.
> 
> Russ Howard has been a highly effective leader for over 20 years. He co-
> founded Students Against the Gun Initiative to fight the 1982 Proposition 
> 15 handgun ban.  He organized a campaign of single share stock 
> purchases of anti-gun newsmedia corporations. He was Director of 
> Research for California's 1993 school choice initiative.
> 
> As an NRA Director, Russ authored an unsuccessful Board Resolution to 
> stop giving "A" ratings to legislators who dishonor their oath to defend the 
> Constitution by voting for anti-gun, anti-self-defense laws. As Vice-
> Chairman of Membership, he oversaw partial enactment of his idea for a 
> retail gun store discount program for NRA members.  As part of the NRA 
> Board's Management Audit, he reviewed the underperformance of NRA's  
> investment portfolios, and made recommendations for improvement.
> 
> In the last 10 years, we've worked with Russ on a number of successful
> political projects.  It's no exaggeration to say he's spent the majority
of his 
> free time in the last 20 years laboring to restore Constitutional liberty. 
> Russ and Steve are the kind of people who never fail to do the right thing, 
> despite personal sacrifice.
> 
> This holiday season, remember: No honorable army leaves wounded 
> warriors on the battlefield, and no honorable civil rights movement should 
> stand by while its champions are legally dissected by petty bureaucratic 
> tyrants.  What Russ did was the right thing to do.  He did it on your  
> behalf, on behalf of the countless Americans who risked and lost life and 
> limb to leave us our great heritage of liberty.
> 
> Because of its importance for grassroots organizing and freedom of 
> association, Gun Owners of America has hired two additional attorneys to 
> work on the case.  But legal help is not free. Instructions to make tax-
> deductible donations are at the end of Larry's article below.  For those 
> making smaller donations, or who don't need a tax deduction, regular 
> donation instructions are below that.
> 
> Think of it as one more present under the tree. 
> A present to the Constitution.
> 
> You know what to do.
> 
> For Liberty,
> 
> Weldon Clark, Jr.
> Former NRA Director
> Founder, 2ndAmendmentNews
> 
> Rick Carone
> Former Chairman of Finance, NRA
> Founder, Californians Against Corruption
> 
> P.S. In 1991, when Russ volunteered to serve as Treasurer of CAC, I  
> asked him if he was sure of the risk he was taking on, walking point in 
> such grassroots guerrilla campaigns as those in which we were about to 
> embark.  I'll never forget his answer: "Hey, Rick, when they asked you to 
> go to Vietnam, you didn't go to Canada, did you?  Well, I never had to go 
> to war like you and a lot of other guys did, and the risk is minimal by 
> comparison. This is my way of doing my part.  Somebody has to do it." 
> - RLC
> 
> (Note:� If you were a CAC member or recall donor who inquired about 
> reporting thresholds and limited your donations accordingly, or if you 
> received any abusive mailings such as those described in the NOTE
> below, and if you're willing to testify or sign an affidavit to that effect, 
> please contact CACDefenseFund@netzero.net -- 2AN)

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               The NRA
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