As previously reported (Midwest Fair Tax Rally/Tea Party Went Well Except I got Banned from Senator Vogel's Office), Senator Vogel's chief of staff, Martin (Bubs) Hohulin, banned me from his (the Senator's) office next session because I gave their office phone number to those gathered at the rally and encouraged them to call.

When I was a legislator, I banned a limited number of individuals/groups from my office. They were banned not because they disagreed with me or even because they had people call my office, something I always thought was a part of my job. They were banned because they could not be trusted to tell the truth on the issues we disagreed upon.

In the case of my banning by Mr. Hohulin, it wasn't because I didn't tell the truth. I told people at the rally to call Senator Vogel as Chair of the Ways and Means Committee to let him know of their support for the Fair Tax. I didn't say Senator Vogel was for or against it. I didn't say anything derogatory about the Senator at all. Simple just call him and let him know of support.

Unfortunately, Mr. Hohulin takes great objection because I had grass roots people at the rally actually call the Senator's office. He told me that as a former legislator and now "paid lobbyist" I should know better than to give out a legislator's number to a group of people and have them call. Mr. Hohulin said it was one thing for people to find the Senator's number and call but it was out of bounds for someone like me to assist grass roots activists in identifying and contacting an elected official's office. That attitude captures the problem we have at most levels of government today.

Some in a position of power, elected or appointed, don't really want to hear from those governed. Their life is so much easier when they can muddle along without anyone bothering them or paying much attention to what they do or gasp, have to explain their positions! Sadly, we as a citizenry have been all too accepting of that position. It's time we changed that and put elected officials on notice that we are paying attention!

Mr. Hohulin is attempting to strong arm me into not serving the members of Americans for Prosperity - Missouri by identifying the sources and providing resources for grass roots activists to let those who they have placed in power know where they stand on issues. We owe a debt to those who have gone before us to insure that when our elected officials can't constrain themselves, we let them know we are prepared to do so.

AFPMO will continue to call out elected officials at all levels of government; providing the necessary information, including office numbers, to our members and to encourage appropriate actions. If Mr. Hohulin were successful in his attempt to bully me, our members would not be as effective at making those contacts and impacting their government.

You might be interested to know that I checked my list of things I am afraid of just in case I missed something, but I didn’t. Bubs isn't on it.