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The Family Foundation’s Annual Day at the Capitol is this Thursday, with an emphasis 0n education freedom — particularly legislation that provides tax credits for private school scholarships. We need to send a loud message to our legislators that, after years of dragging their feet while public education deteriorates (especially for the underprivileged who are trapped in failing schools by an education establishment unwilling to embrace reforms) and options and competition few, educational opportunity for all children is the right choice for Virginia.  
 
Registration for the event, at the Greater Richmond Convention Center, begins at 8:30. The program begins at 9:00 with a briefing  from lawmakers and policy makers, includes a visit with your legislators, and ends with a rally on the Capitol Square grounds. Some of our special speakers include Lt. Governor Bill Bolling, Secretary of Education Gerard Robinson and Family Foundation Chaplain, Bishop E. W. Jackson, Sr.
 
You will have an opportunity to meet with your legislators, get updates from The Family Foundation staff and enjoy optional tours of Mr. Jefferson’s Capitol, the Governor’s Mansion and the Virginia Supreme Court during the afternoon. Tours are available on a first come, first serve basis the morning of the event, so if you are interested get to Richmond early.
 
While our format is a bit different this year, it will be an extremely exciting Lobby Day at the Capitol. Christian and private schools from across the Commonwealth will participate with us. If you are affiliated with a Christian or private school, please share this information with the school and fellow parents and students, and encourage them to send a delegation to support this effort.

If you would like more information about arranging at special tour for your school or about the event, please e-mail amanda@familyfoundation.org or call 804-343-0010. To register online, click here.

With the 2010 elections over, Thanksgiving behind us and Christmas just around the corner, most people are giving politics a rest right now. Deservedly so. However, the General Assembly will go into session in early January and The Family Foundation is gearing up for another heated session. With issues such as wrongful death for the unborn, the federal repeal amendment, and a renewed emphasis on school choice, now is not the time for us to rest on our laurels. Our staff is busy preparing to stand in the gap in the upcoming session for the values that we hold dear.

With that in mind, please commit for one day — Thursday, February 10 — and attend our annual Family Foundation Day at the Capitol, at the Greater Richmond Convention Center (directions). This is a change from the last few years when our lobby day was on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. This year we will focus on school choice and, in particular, a bill that Senator Mark Obenshein (R-26, Harrisonburg) and Delegate Jimmie Massie R-72, Henrico) will carry. The bill would provide tax credits for contributions to scholarship foundations that in turn sponsor children to attend the school of their choice.

We believe that competition in education and true education freedom are key components to the reforms our current education system needs. In addition to our normal Lobby Day at the Capitol activities, we will join with several other groups for a rally for school choice at the bell tower on the capitol grounds.

A similar bill by Delegate Massie passed the House of Delegates last year but died in the Senate Finance Committee (see how it went down). We need a strong show of support from people across Virginia to convince our senators that school choice is the right choice for Virginia.

So, we encourage you to mark your calendars for Thursday, February 10, and join us in Richmond. Registration for this free event is as easy as clicking right here.

Several private and Christian schools are participating with us in this effort. If you have children in a private or Christian school or have a relationship with one in your area, please forward this link with them. Also, you can e-mail us @ FamilyFoundation@familyfoundation.org and let us know of any schools in your area that might be interested in participating. We will be happy to follow up with them. For more information about the event, call Roger Pogge at 804-343-0010.

One of the lighter moments of the Virginia TEA Party Convention last weekend was Friday morning, when a group promoting a new 25-minute documentary by the National Republican Trust, a political action committee not affiliated with the Republican Party, staged a “funeral” for the U.S. Constitution and “Integrity.” A re-enactor portraying Thomas Jefferson led a solemn processions inside the Greater Richmond Convention Center as well as on downtown Richmond streets, slowly ringing a bell, before stopping and eulogizing the late founding document and the integrity with which our representatives used to govern. It was well received by the TEA Partiers, many of whom stood and applauded at first sighting of the coffins, fully understanding the point before the speech. A flurry of photographers — media and spectators — snapped away. One gentleman even placed his hat over his heart!

It was an early event at the convention — before it had even started — and an unofficial one at that, but the reactions of the crowd were telling. Far from an angry mob as the mainstream media portrays them, these are every day citizens with a deep love of country and, perhaps, a deeper concern for its current direction.

Is the Constitution dead? Or just sleeping, like Lazarus, waiting for a “great awakening” November 2?

A lot has been said and written about the first ever Virginia Tea Party Convention this Friday and Saturday at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. National as well as state media are expected to turn up as the convention’s organizers are billing it as the largest such gathering in the country. So far, 2,300 attendees have registered to hear an assortment of national figures as well as state leaders, such as Governor Bob McDonnell and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. But the convention will be more than speakers. It is going to have policy round tables and workshops for activists to better prepare for the upcoming and future elections.

Your humble admin will be in attendance along Blogger’s Row. I will post live on our Facebook page (click here to join that page) which also tweets to our Twitter page (click here). Our tweets also pop up in our Twitter box on right margin of this blog. I’m not sure how much live blogging  I will do but I will take it all in and do a wrap up early next week. But I think  convention  settings are tailor made for quicker observations which allow for more audience give and take. I hope you will join me online. 

With our Gala taking shape in the same building hours after the convention ends, it’s going to be an active and hectic weekend. One thing I will look out for: the extent to which “social issues” are discussed. After all, you can’t have liberty without Life, and for all the discussion about how social conservatives and libertarians don’t mix well, most of those I know are firm pro-lifers.

Regardless, please, check in here during the weekend for the latest on what should be one of the most memorable two days of conservative activism in the commonwealth’s history: The Tea Party Convention and The Family Foundation’s 25th Anniversary Gala (which has its own gaggle of state and national media coverage, including Fox News). In fact, more than 1,00o people will gather at the gala to celebrate a quarter century of advocacy of family values in Virginia public policy, and to hear rising conservative leader Congressman Mike Pence of Indiana.

Two days remain to buy tickets to see Congressman Mike Pence (R-Ind.) deliver the keynote speech at The Family Foundation’s 25th Anniversary Gala, this Saturday, October 9, at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. Winner of the recent 2012 presidential straw poll at the Family Research Council’s Values Voter Summit (see video for a preview of what to expect Saturday), Congressman Pence has been turning heads as a rising star in the conservative movement. So much so, in fact, we just learned that Fox News Channel intends to cover the gala!

Last weekend, Congressman Pence, the third ranking member of the House Republican Conference, traveled to Iowa — not by accident, he joked — where he spoke to the Faith and Freedom Coalition dinner (Iowa Independent). A hero among social and fiscal conservatives, Congressman Pence’s remarks were enthusiastically received (see Kathie Obradovich at The DesMoines Register’s Iowa Politcs Blog). In short, he is rising to the top of the 2012 GOP presidential field.

This quote from that speech is an example of why he is held in such high regard by social conservatives (see Caffeinated Thoughts and its podcast):

To those who say we should focus on fiscal issues, instead of the right to life, I say, “What is more fiscally responsible than denying any and all funding to Planned Parenthood of America?” To those who say that marriage doesn’t matter, I say, “You would not be able to print enough money in 1,000 years to pay for the government you would need if the traditional family continues to collapse.”

In addition to registering online, you can purchase tickets by phone through Friday at (804) 343-0010 by Friday. The dinner begins at 6:30 p.m. and is preceded by a private sponsors’ reception and picture opportunity with Congressman Pence at 5:15 p.m.

Here’s one more sample of what you’ll get with Mike Pence:

Pence: God planted America’s seeds of liberty.

We’ve been making the case that our 25th Anniversary Gala speaker, Congressman Mike Pence (R-Ind.), is one of the leading conservatives in America. Well respected by his colleagues and those in the conservative media, his star is shining brightly among the grassroots now, too, as Saturday he won the closely watched Values Voter Summit Presidential Straw Poll with 24 percent of the vote over 17 potential candidates (see Politico.com).

The 2,000 summit attendees voted (see Outside The Beltway’s Doug Mataconis) last year’s gala speaker, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, second. The others who received votes in the straw poll, in alphabetical order, were Haley Barbour, Jan Brewer, Chris Christie, Mitch Daniels, Jim DeMint, Newt Gingrich, Bobby Jindal, Bob McDonnell, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan, Sarah Palin, Rick Santorum and John Thune.

This year’s gala not only will be a chance to hear one of the leaders and intellectual forces behind the conservative movement, but also to share in the celebration of 25 years of fighting the good fight for traditional and family values. Already, more than 900 people have bought tickets to the event (nearing last year’s record), and you will want to see for yourself why Congressman Pence is so respected by thousands of conservative grassroots leaders and activists from around the nation.

This very special Family Foundation event, one that will be remembered long after it is over, is Saturday, October 9, at the Greater Richmond Convention Center at 6:30 (5:15 sponsors reception with Congressman Pence). To order your tickets or for sponsorship information, get complete details here, e-mail us at Gala@FamilyFoundation.org, or call The Family Foundation at (804) 343-0010.

See the speech that drove Values Voter Summit attendees to vote Mike Pence its 2012 presidential favorite:

Pence, commonsense and common values: “Those who would have us ignore the battle being fought over life, marriage and religious liberty, have forgotten the lessons of history. As in the days of a house divided, America’s darkest moments have come when economic arguments trumped moral principles.”

We’ve mentioned several times recently that Congressman Mike Pence (R-Ind.) is a rising national conservative star and leader. Many tout him as a 2012 presidential candidate and he is the third ranking GOP member of the House, in line to become the majority whip if the Republicans win the House majority in November. He also happens to be the keynote speaker at The Family Foundation’s 25th Anniversary Celebration Gala on October 9 at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. (See video invite featuring Congressman Pence, here.)

There is no greater evidence of his standing and stature in the national media and political realm than this: Friday morning after the Labor Department released yet another sad employment number (9.6 percent unemployment rate) and President Obama’s sadder still rationalization and fantasy land pronouncement that the economy is improving, it was Representative Pence who was the in-demand speaker to articulate the opposition view.

Here is the Fox News Channel interview with Congressman Pence that aired live immediately after the president’s propaganda show:

Voice of the opposition: Congressman Mike Pence takes the lead in providing right reason to the Obama-Reid-Pelosi regime program of failure. See for yourself why he commands so much national media attention at our 25th Anniversary Celebration Gala on October 9 in Richmond.

Tickets now are on sale for The Family Foundation’s 25th Anniversary Gala Celebration. By acting now, you will receive the best available seating before thousands of official Gala invitations are mailed, so please reserve your seats or table today by clicking here.

This special event, taking place Saturday, October 9 at 6:30 p.m. at the Greater Richmond Convention Center, will look back on our legacy and ahead to future successes. We are delighted to have U.S. Representative Mike Pence (R-Ind.), the chairman of the House Republican Conference, as our keynote speaker for this special celebratory gala. (See this special Mike Pence/Gala video, here.)

Individual tickets are available for $85.00 and couples tickets for $165.00. Sponsorships also are still available. To order your tickets today, click here. You may also register for the Gala by calling John or Dan at The Family Foundation at (804) 343-0010, or e-mail to Gala@FamilyFoundation.org. Act fast, though, as space is limited and this special 25th Anniversary Gala is sure to be a hot ticket.

For out of town guests wishing to stay overnight on October 9, a discounted group rate is available at the Hilton Garden Inn at 501 East Broad Street, located directly across the street from the Convention Center. Call (877) 782-9444 toll free and mention The Family Foundation Annual Gala for more information. The cut-off date for the group rate is September 9.

There is a private sponsors reception at 5:15. Dinner starts at 6:30. The dress is business attire.

The Virginia Tea Party yesterday announced (Richmond Tea Party Blog) that Bishop E.W. Jackson, Sr., the chaplain for The Family Foundation, head of our Pastors for Family Values arm, and the founder of Chesapeake-based Exodus Faith Ministries International and STAND (Staying True to America’s National Destiny), will be one of the keynote speakers at its first-ever statewide convention this October 8-9 at the Greater Richmond Convention Center (Richmond Times-Dispatch). It will be a busy weekend for Bishop Jackson, already an in-demand speaker, who also will feature at our 25th Anniversary Gala the evening of the 9th at the GRCC, at which Congressman (and potential presidential candidate) Mike Pence of Indiana will keynote (click for more information).

It won’t be the first Tea Party address by Bishop Jackson — whose resume could run the length of Virginia Beach’s Atlantic Boulevard — a Harvard educated attorney, broadcaster, writer and a Tea Party regular, who brought down the house at the Hampton Roads Tea Party on April 15 and at a recent Tuesday Morning Group Coalition meeting. He’s also becoming quite the national figure (see Fox News Channel interview with Megyn Kelly and with CNN’s Roland Martin). Bishop Jackson also is the author of the best selling Ten Commandments To An Extraordinary Life: Making Your Dreams Come True.

We congratulate Bishop Jackson on his rising prominence in the commonwealth and country. We look forward to his continued leadership at The Family Foundation and in the cause of restoring traditional values. For a taste of what you can expect, here’s a video of Bishop Jackson speaking to a PFFV event in Norfolk earlier this year.

Bishop E.W. Jackson, Sr., on the side of truth and right.

The Family Foundation is thrilled to announce that sponsorships and program ads for our 25th Anniversary Celebration Gala, featuring keynote speaker Congressman Mike Pence (R-Ind.), are now available (here). Find event details, sign up for sponsorships for this exciting event or reserve a program ad by clicking here or by visiting our Gala Web page: www.familyfoundation.org/gala. Individual and couples tickets will be available in mid-August.

This year’s Gala is Saturday, October 9 at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. A private sponsors’ reception and photo line will begin at 5:15, followed by dinner at 6:30. The suggested dress for the evening is business attire. Sponsorship benefits for the various levels include seats at Congressman Pence’s table, a private reception and photograph with Congressman Pence, and a breakfast with Historian David Barton. Click here for complete details.

Congressman Pence describes himself as “a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order!” An outspoken advocate for the values we share, he has been named one of the 20 most influential conservatives in America and has repeatedly received the “True Blue Award” from the Family Research Council for his commitment to the family and sanctity of human life. Human Events named Congressman Pence “Man of the Year” in 2005. If you have not heard Congressman Pence speak you are in for a real treat!

For out of town guests who wish to stay overnight, a discounted group rate is available at Hilton Garden Inn, at 501 East Broad Street, located directly across the street from the Greater Richmond Convention Center. Please call 877-782-9444 and mention The Family Foundation Annual Gala for more information. The cut-off date for the group rate is September 9.

We look forward to another big turnout in what promises to be a major event in the midst of a potentially historic election year. To register online, click here; to register by phone or for more information, please call The Family Foundation at 804-343-0010 and speak with Dan Thompson or John Downer; or e-mail questions to Gala@FamilyFoundation.org.