Talk:Sam Adams Alliance

Placing unsourced copy and paste here. Diane Farsetta 13:58, 21 February 2008 (EST) -

Sam Adams Alliance
Over 200 years ago, Sam Adams built a network of citizens that primed the ground for the American Revolution and paved the way for the rights and freedoms outlined in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

Today, many of those basic freedoms are under attack by the very government that was formed to protect them—a government that is increasingly overreaching, unaccountable, and out of control.

The Sam Adams Alliance strives to educate and inform citizens about the important political issues necessary to maintaining a free society, including government accountability, government transparency, property rights protection, fiscal responsibility, free speech, and citizen initiative and referendum rights. In doing so, it aims to broaden the public debate on the proper role of state and local government in society, and to inspire greater involvement of intelligent, concerned citizens.

SAA is also an educational network that discovers, develops, and supports citizens. It spreads the word about important issues, shares best practices for community leaders, and offers networking and educational events for local leaders across the country. This educational network is facilitated through our website, e-mail newsletters, printed materials, direct mail, radio broadcast program Common Sense, and networking events.

Why Sam Adams?

Sam Adams was a founding father who understood that real political change begins with strong citizen networks and local action.

For over ten years prior to 1776, Sam and his network of local leaders primed the ground for the American Revolution and paved the way for the rights and freedoms outlined in the Constitution.

Fast Facts about Sam Adams:

Sam Adams was born on September 27, 1722 in Boston.

President John Adams was one of Sam’s cousins.

Sam attended school at the Boston Latin School and pursued bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Harvard College.

Sam wrote his master’s thesis on the topic of “whether it be lawful to resist the supreme magistrate if the commonwealth cannot otherwise be preserved.”

While he is famous for his beer, Sam often struggled in managing the brewery he inherited upon his father’s death. His true passion: working for greater freedom in the colonies. Sam’s early experience as a public servant was as a tax collector—but he wasn’t very good at it, as he refused to soak the taxpayers.

Sam proved to be an excellent political organizer, however. By 1765, he had risen to be an important leader in Boston, speaking up in town meetings, drafting protests against the Stamp Act, and inspiring fellow citizens to defend their invaluable rights and liberties.

As a member of the legislature, Sam served as clerk of the house and was responsible for drafting written protests of various British governmental acts, including a circular letter in response to the Townshend Acts.

In 1772, Sam came up with the Committees of Correspondence, a body organized to record British activities and coordinate written communication outside his own colony. When this system was adopted by the thirteen colonies, it created the Continental Congress. Sam is best remembered for his organization of the Boston Tea Party in 1773, in response to the Tea Act.

Sam signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

Sam continued serving in politics, always a voice for republicanism—the ideology of governing the nation ruled by the people, with an emphasis on liberty—until just a few years before he died in 1803.

Our Vision- What We Stand For
America’s greatest strength is its foundation in freedom – a foundation that was revolutionary at the time and continues to shape the world today. America’s prosperity, innovation, and success, unprecedented in history, are firmly rooted in the freedom of its citizens and their ability to shape their own paths and goals.

Unfortunately, some of our most basic rights and freedoms have been eroded in the United States—and they are not going to be protected by the courts, Congress, any president, or any political party. No elected officials can fulfill the role of holding the government accountable, because the first goal of any political party is the pursuit of power by gaining offices for its members. Power, sadly, often trumps principle, and some of our most basic liberties have been weakened at the hands of political parties and elected officials.

We envision a free and prosperous people living in a country based on a foundation of accountable, transparent government, the rule of law, and basic rights and freedoms including the right to own property, the right to speak freely, and the right to petition the government. We stand for the people, not the bureaucrat; for the property owner, not the government planner; for the freedom of citizens, not an ever-expanding government.

America needs a political network that stands outside of the partisan struggle for power; a network of effective leaders and citizen watchdogs who can hold politicians and bureaucrats accountable without trying to take their place. The Sam Adams Alliance was formed to connect and support these citizen leaders across the country.

There are many citizens who are already stepping up and taking action. They are setting an example, blazing the trail for the rest of us. Right now, our partners across the nation are:

protecting property owners from eminent domain abuse;

unmasking government abuse and corruption;

holding elected officials responsible and accountable for their actions;

defending the rights of taxpayers and promoting fiscal responsibility;

defending free speech, citizen initiatives, and petition rights;

promoting government transparency;

gathering signatures to put meaningful reforms on the ballot;

spreading the word about government accountability.

We envision a government that is of the people, by the people, and for the people. Our Founders knew that the “parchment barriers” of the Constitution were insufficient to protect liberty; that eternal vigilance of the people would always be needed for the preservation of liberty.

Sam Adams inspired the American Revolution by encouraging ordinary people to take extraordinary steps to defend their liberty. Freedom can be fragile, especially when it is entrusted to an increasingly unaccountable government. It is time again for ordinary citizens to band together and stand up for the freedoms that have made America great.

Sam Staff

Jodi Bridges, Director of Events & Personnel

Bob Costello, Foundation President & CFO

Paul Jacob, Senior Advisor

Eric O’Keefe, Chairman & CEO