Written By: Josh Kimbrell.

Greetings Folks,

Now that Republicans have retaken the House in an electoral movement not seen since 1932, the real work begins. We have an incredible opportunity to bring about real change, which leads to real hope. Here in South Carolina, conservatives now hold EVERY constitutional office at the State level! This is the first time in our State’s history that conservative Republicans have, simultaneously, held each statewide office. Nevertheless, I’d return to my opening statement: now the real work begins.

We’ve learned from Barack Obama that running a great campaign is a far cry from governing effectively. In that same vein, our 3rd President, Thomas Jefferson, offered that “the government that governs best governs least.” We must now work together to rebuild the consensus cultural values which have come to define our State and Country. That’s why we at the CEO Round Table of South Carolina aren’t skipping a beat. We’re working together to bring about a movement in the Palmetto State, which will reinforce our social values, as well as our core, conservative economic principles.

In the coming weeks, we’ll unveil our “Awaken SC” campaign, which will kick-off in Columbia on Saturday morning, April 9th, 2011. For decades political leaders have labeled our home state the “firewall.” Since the Reagan years, South Carolina has stood between presidential aspirants and the possibility of power. Ours is a State where faith, freedom and free-markets have converged to form a culture of conviction, where the values that made America have been cherished.

April 9th we’ll issue a clarion call to 2012 Presidential Contenders that South Carolina will stand-up for America’s founding Judeo-Christian values. In so doing, the Palmetto State has the potential to put the emphasis equally on faith, freedom and free-markets in the battle to replace Barack Obama.

Join us as we work to “Awaken SC” in time for the 2012 Presidential Election!

Joshua B. Kimbrell
President & Chairman
CEO Round Table of South Carolina

Josh Kimbrell is President & Chairman of CEO Round Table of South Carolina. CEO stands for “Christians Empowered & Organized.” Part of the mission of CEO Round Table is “to promote a way of life that embraces faith, family, and freedom.” 

Written By: Josh Kimbrell.

Hey Folks,

Good election eve! I truly believe that tomorrow will be a great day for America. Across our Country conservatives are poised to win, and win big. As exciting as tomorrow promises to be, we must not relent or retreat until we have reclaimed America. Tomorrow is merely a battle in the war for the soul of our Nation; it is the beginning of a long road toward recovery, economically and culturally.

I’d ask y’all to join Kacy and me in spending a little extra time in prayer tomorrow, prayer for our Country. Even with a Republican victory, which will be a step in the right direction, we cannot rest on our laurels. So long as America is far from her founding Judeo-Christian heritage, she is a nation adrift. That’s why, together, we must fight to heal our culture in the process of restoring our economy. As Speaker Newt Gingrich has said, we’re experiencing a “cultural collapse with economic consequences.”

Tomorrow, we’ll send a message to Washington, DC that rings loud and clear: we will not stand by as our city is sacked. Americans will fight for America. As a new Congress is seated in January, let us pledge to restore the honor that has defined our nation’s history. It will now be incumbent upon us to lead our fellow citizens back to fellowship with the Father.  Trust in God has long defined what it means to be an American, and with the challenges facing us, that faith will see us through.

Finally, I’d thank each of you for the hard work you’ve done to get us to this day. South Carolina stands poised to lead America back to her true heart, because folks like you have stood to fight. Relish the sweet aroma of victory tomorrow night, but rise ready to fight on November 3rd.

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD” Psalm 33:12 (NIV)

God Bless,

Joshua B. Kimbrell
President & Chairman
CEO Round Table of South Carolina

Josh Kimbrell is President & Chairman of CEO Round Table of South Carolina. CEO stands for “Christians Empowered & Organized.” Part of the mission of CEO Round Table is “to promote a way of life that embraces faith, family, and freedom.”

Written By: Josh Kimbrell.

Dear Friends,

It’s been some time since we’ve spoken, and for that I apologize. Tonight, in addition to providing you with a brief update, I wanted to resend you an article I wrote earlier this year, on the difference between classical liberalism and the near tyranny that’s come to define the modern left. Please, consider these thoughts as you cast your ballot next week. Take a minute to re-read… “Liberal or Liberalism? A Study in Contrast“

For the past several weeks, since our “A Greater Freedom” conference with Senator DeMint, we’ve been laying the foundation for our most ambitious effort to date: “Awaken SC.”

We at the CEO Round Table of South Carolina firmly believe that winning a conservative majority next week is half the battle. Just half. Keeping a conservative majority consistent, well, that’s another thing entirely. That’s why we’re putting together a statewide, county-by-county, campaign to restore South Carolina’s Judeo-Christian Foundations. This effort will be launched on the steps of the South Carolina Statehouse Saturday morning, April 9th, 2011. We’re calling on 5,000 Christians from across our State to join us in Columbia for a time of prayer and reflection on the future of our Nation. If we who know Truth don’t share it now, then the South Carolina, indeed the America, we’ve come to know and love will cease to exist. As Ronald Reagan once remarked, “If we ever forget that we’re ‘One Nation Under God,’ then we’re a Nation gone under.”

Finally, I strongly encourage y’all to vote next week. Our State and Nation are only as good as those who show-up, so let’s show-up in mighty numbers; however, after you cast your ballot, don’t sit on your laurels…the fight goes on. We’ll need you in Columbia in April, as we begin the long trek toward a revitalized South Carolina and a more hopeful America. Together, let’s remind our fellow citizens that Jesus Christ is the answer.

God Bless,

Joshua B. Kimbrell
President & Chairman
CEO Round Table of South Carolina

Josh Kimbrell is President & Chairman of CEO Round Table of South Carolina. CEO stands for “Christians Empowered & Organized.” Part of the mission of CEO Round Table is “to promote a way of life that embraces faith, family, and freedom.”

Written By: Josh Kimbrell.

Dear Friends,

In 1776 Adam Smith penned what has become the “second Bible” of economists around the world: The Wealth of Nations. In this revolutionary classic, Smith placed the emphasis on freedom to the flourishing of free-markets. His argument was cutting-edge in a day where monarchs still made unilateral decisions, and America was just being born as a Nation. Still, the central theme of Smith’s theory was that an “Invisible Hand” governed free-markets, when governments stepped out of the way. That Hand, in Smith’s mind, was the Hand of God.

Adam Smith believed, as I believe, that God is the Author of all things, including sound economic principles. The belief that certain things work because nature and nature’s God say they do is known as Natural Law. Free Markets are predicated on a moral disposition among the folks, which is made possible by limited government. It’s as we stated at our “A Greater Freedom” conference in Spartanburg last week: “As government grows, God shrinks; as God shrinks, government grows.” Of course, in all reality God never changes in scope or scale, but only in the minds of men. A Nation which takes its focus off of God, and places it on government, is a Nation doomed to failure.

I’d argue that we’re coming perilously close to a feudal economic system, whereby the national and state governments effectively own the businesses where the folks are employed. Whether it’s through massive “stimulus” packages at the Federal level, or targeted “incentives” packages at the state level, we’ve effectively got at government-planned economy. If this trend continues, Americans will no longer be stake-holding citizens, but mere serfs manning the manor of government enterprise. That’s why the CEO Round Table of South Carolina is committed to putting-forth common-sense economic solutions, which put the focus back on freedom & free-markets, not government options. Free-markets can never flourish when folks look to government for their salvation, when they should bow only before God.

The CEO Round Table believes that a spiritual awakening in our State and Nation must occur, if we’re to reduce government, expand freedom and offer prosperity to our posterity. As such, we look forward to following-up our “A Greater Freedom” Conference last week with a sustained, state-wide outreach effort which will culminate with our “Awaken SC” rally next spring. Stay tuned…

God Bless,

-Josh Kimbrell
President & Chairman
CEO Round Table of South Carolina

Josh Kimbrell is President & Chairman of CEO Round Table of South Carolina. CEO stands for “Christians Empowered & Organized.” Part of the mission of CEO Round Table is “to promote a way of life that embraces faith, family, and freedom.” 

Written By: Josh Kimbrell.

Dear South Carolina Conservative,

We wanted to take a moment to personally invite you to join the CEO Round Table of South Carolina and Conservative.SC at our annual “A Greater Freedom” Conference. This exciting event, aimed at bringing together economic and social conservatives across our State, will be held Friday evening, October 1st, at 7pm at First Baptist Church North Spartanburg. We’re excited to announce that U.S. Senator Jim DeMint and SBC Executive Director Dr. Frank Page will be headlining this exciting evening.

Though this event is free-of-charge, and open to the public, we’re planning on providing you with a wealth of information about the current state of affairs in Columbia and Washington. As not to get you fired-up, then shut-out, we’ll have numerous ways for you to get involved in an ongoing effort to reform the culture and politics here in South Carolina. Both during the conference, and afterward in the lobby, there will be ways to get involved with CEO Round Table and Conservative.SC, as well as opportunities to visit with conservative activists from across the State.

Check out Senator DeMint’s invitation video by following this link below:

Make plans to join us on Friday night, October 1st, in Spartanburg!

God Bless,

-Josh Kimbrell
President, CEO Round Table of South Carolina

-Dave Wilson
President, Conservative.SC

Josh Kimbrell is President & Chairman of CEO Round Table of South Carolina. CEO stands for “Christians Empowered & Organized.” Part of the mission of CEO Round Table is “to promote a way of life that embraces faith, family, and freedom.” 

Written By: Josh Kimbrell.

Our culture has a difficult time differentiating between rights and preferences, which is usually due to our obfuscation of right and wrong. In our increasing secular-progressive society we’ve dreamt-up “rights,” which stand in stark contrast to America’s founding principals, and declared them constitutional. This fact is well illustrated by recent city-sponsored gay pride parades and festivals held in several South Carolina towns. City officials and organizers have defended their use of taxpayer funds and facilities to support these events, as defending the rights of homosexuals to be married. To that end, I’d humbly offer that I do not hold marriage as an inalienable right, but as a freedom.

A right, by definition, is what an individual may do without the consent or approval of others, including government. As such, rights are absolute and inviolable, and create legal lines which legitimate governments may not cross. The Declaration of Independence describes inalienable rights as “self-evident.” In other words, simple observation attests to their existence. A person may breathe without asking permission, and they may speak without consulting another. Additionally, rights cannot be exclusively extended to one group at the expense of another. Rights must be evenly applied. An individual’s exercise of his or her right to speak, for example, doesn’t preclude another from speaking simultaneously (though it may get a little confusing).

Neither heterosexual, nor homosexual marriage is an inalienable right. It is a freedom in a free society, granted to qualifying individuals, but it is not a right extended to all. Children, for example, cannot be married, though they are autonomous individuals possessing the same inalienable rights as adults. Though I’m a happily married man, I’m not entitled to my marriage. I wasn’t born with an inalienable right to marry my wife. Remember, a right is something that exists outside the permission and consent of others; therefore, marriage can never be a right, for it requires that two people consent to spend the rest of their lives with one another. For the cities of North Charleston, Spartanburg and Columbia to promote gay pride activism, under the pretense of protect individual rights, is ludicrous.

Homosexual citizens have the same right to protest as any other individual in America. Just like every other citizen in America, they do not have a right to marry. The only civil rights being trampled in the current debate over city-sponsored gay pride events is the right to self-government. The cities aforementioned are chartered under the State of South Carolina and, in 2006, the people of South Carolina, by an overwhelming 78% majority, voted to amend the State constitution to recognize marriage as “the union of one man and one woman.” For cities and localities to wastefully spend taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars, to lobby for same-sex marriage benefits, is a violation of the principles of self-government. Homosexual activists have the same rights as any other citizen to enter into the union of marriage with a person of the opposite sex, as defined by the SC Constitution. If they disagree with the State’s definition of marriage, they have the right to protest these laws…on their own dime, using their own resources.

God Bless,

Joshua B. Kimbrell
President & Chairman
CEO Round Table of South Carolina

P.S. – I’ve been telling y’all about CEO Round Table’s upcoming “A Greater Freedom” conference at First Baptist Church North Spartanburg for weeks. I’d remind you to follow the link, below, for a special invitation from Senator Jim DeMint to join us in the fight for freedom on October 1st!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ced5wwgV-tg

Josh Kimbrell is President & Chairman of CEO Round Table of South Carolina. CEO stands for “Christians Empowered & Organized.” Part of the mission of CEO Round Table is “to promote a way of life that embraces faith, family, and freedom.”

Written By: Josh Kimbrell.

Friends,

I’ve been telling y’all about CEO Round Table’s upcoming “A Greater Freedom” conference at First Baptist Church North Spartanburg for months. Tonight, I’d invite you to get a second opinion on why you should make plans to join us on October 1st.

Just follow the link below this article for a special invitation from Senator Jim DeMint to join us in the fight for freedom.

South Carolina’s only as good as those who show-up and fight for her. Please, join us as we stand-up for the values that made America, and define the Palmetto State.

God Bless,

Joshua B. Kimbrell
President & Chairman
CEO Round Table of South Carolina

Josh Kimbrell is President & Chairman of CEO Round Table of South Carolina. CEO stands for “Christians Empowered & Organized.” Part of the mission of CEO Round Table is “to promote a way of life that embraces faith, family, and freedom.” 

Written By: Josh Kimbrell.

You know we’re on the verge of a political sea shift when even the Washington Post starts criticizing Democratic initiatives. That’s exactly what the Post did in an article Monday declaring that the Congress’ Education Jobs Bill “has always struck us as more of an election-year favor for teachers unions than an optimal use of public resources.” For once, I agree with the Post. In yet another election-year scam, the Democratic Congress is drumming-up favor with organized labor on the taxpayer’s dime, while trouncing states’ rights in the process.

South Carolina’s education bureaucracy rejoiced when told the bill would send an additional $143 million in federal funds to the Palmetto State. They quickly re-corked the champagne when they learned that, to obtain the funds, the government in Columbia would have to spend an additional $110 million on higher education. As a result, South Carolina would net only $33 million in new funding, after higher ed mandates are met. Furthermore, to come-up with the “seed money,” South Carolina will be faced with two equally unsettling options: draconian spending cuts to critical services, such as law enforcement and healthcare, or an unsustainable tax increase, which will drive-up unemployment. To make the dreadful package damning, the federal bill may penalize states for rejecting the funds outright.

Under this ridiculous affront to limited government and states’ rights, there’s only one group rejoicing: teachers’ unions. They’re getting a strong return on their investment of campaign dollars, at the expense of private sector folks across America. The incredible unfairness of this bill is that it seeks to save teachers’ jobs, at the expense of private-sector employees. I’ve never believed that teachers’ jobs were any more or less important than those of others. To kill thousands of private-sector jobs across the nation, to save jobs in state-run schools, is plain wrong. Trampling states’ rights to win election-year brownie points is pathetic.

I’d encourage you all to contact your respective Members of Congress, and encourage them to take a stand. Tell them to send the message to Washington that South Carolina is sick of bailouts for special interests.

Joshua B. Kimbrell
President & Chairman
CEO Round Table of South Carolina

Josh Kimbrell is President & Chairman of CEO Round Table of South Carolina. CEO stands for “Christians Empowered & Organized.” Part of the mission of CEO Round Table is “to promote a way of life that embraces faith, family, and freedom.” 

Written By: Josh Kimbrell.

Over the past year and a half millions of Americans from coast to coast, including my wife and me, have participated in rallies simply known as TEA Parties. I’m not sure when the acronym caught-on, but it is widely accepted that TEA stands for “Taxed Enough Already,” to which I heartily add my consent. Nevertheless, the main stream media, indeed many within conservative circles, fail to fully grasp the scope of the TEA Party movement. It is not, as some would argue, merely a libertarian backlash to tax and spend policies, which have driven our nation deeply into debt. It is, instead, a resurgence of the American Spirit, fighting for values and ideals that make America, well, America.

As I mentioned, I’ve attended a number of these rallies myself. Each time I’ve come away with a sense of pride in America’s goodness and virtue. None of the rallies I’ve attended promoted fiscal responsibility to the exclusion of social principles. In fact, as my friend Bill Connor reminds me, the lines that draw the loudest applause are those affirming America’s Christian heritage. Some folks are perplexed by this assertion, as they’ve missed the point of the TEA Party movement altogether. This movement isn’t about complex job creation bills, or exclusively restructuring the tax code. Instead, it has simply sought to bring America back to her founding ideals, which are steeped in the Judeo-Christian Ethic.

As I’ve asserted on many an occasion, the protection of private property is inexorably linked to the protection of personhood. To revoke the right to life is to revoke the right to pursue happiness. You can’t protect folks’ farms and not protect their families. The protection of one necessitates the protection of the other. The only way to ensure that free-markets flourish, and that Capitalism succeeds, is to reduce the size and scope of government. This can only occur when a free society is willing to take responsibility for its own. This responsibility is manifest in church and charity, which strengthen our communities by meeting the needs of the afflicted. This responsibility is manifest when families take care of their own, as opposed to leaving them to the mercy of the state.

A resurgence of America’s core Judeo-Christian Culture must be realized before economic prosperity and personal freedom make a come-back. We can never afford to abandon America’s soul in the name of her wallet. If we do, we’ll quickly realize that we’ve forever lost both. I propose that we think of the TEA Party movement as more than “Taxed Enough Already.” With regard to American Culture and values, we should probably say “Trampled Enough Already.”

Joshua B. Kimbrell
President & Chairman
CEO Round Table of South Carolina

Josh Kimbrell is President & Chairman of CEO Round Table of South Carolina. CEO stands for “Christians Empowered & Organized.” Part of the mission of CEO Round Table is “to promote a way of life that embraces faith, family, and freedom.”

Written By: Josh Kimbrell.

American history has borne witness to the progressive nature (no pun intended) of liberalism from championing individual rights to curtailing them. Classical liberalism, the type championed by Thomas Jefferson and company, sought to expand the realm of the individual by restraining government. Modern liberals seek to expand the realm of the state by restraining individuals. The result is a gutted notion of American independence, and a pretentious commitment to personal freedom, used only in election cycles. Make no mistake; modern liberals are the enemy of classical liberalism.

In Milton Friedman’s Capitalism and Freedom, the modern father of free-market philosophy argues that an emphasis on the individual is necessary for the advancement of society. The paradox proven by history is that a focus on the collective undermines both the individual and society, while a focus on the individual betters both. Great breakthroughs, from the discovery of America by Columbus, to the discovery of penicillin, were the product of personal initiative. In fact, many breakthroughs in science and technology, business and commerce, were not only achieved by individual initiative, but by individuals operating outside of government grants and conventional wisdom.

Even Christopher Columbus’ voyage, though financed by King Ferdinand of Spain, wasn’t a government-chartered program. Columbus had determined to find a shortcut to the Indies, well before King Ferdinand decided to get in on the action. Columbus was actually denied support from numerous European governments, before he secured the support of Spain. Had his voyage been contingent on government programs, this enterprising Italian wouldn’t have discovered America. Thomas Jefferson summed it up well in saying, “the government that governs best governs least.” Unleashing the entrepreneurial spirit is the sure-fire way to jump-start a successful economy.

Modern liberalism rests on the laurels afforded it by classical liberals. The commitment of classical liberals to individual rights made America the world’s first meritocracy. Folks who live in freedom find fulfillment by living in the realization that we are created in the Image of God. The hallmark characteristic of this image is the ability to create, or, in the case of mere mortals, recreate (as we can’t create the raw materials). A fervent commitment to the folks, as opposed to a foolhardy focus on the collective, is a necessary precondition of political and economic freedom. Let’s pull together as conservatives here in South Carolina to build a state where individual rights are championed, economic freedom flourishes, and our cultural capital, steeped in our Judeo-Christian heritage, is the foundation.

Joshua B. Kimbrell
President & Chairman
CEO Round Table of South Carolina

Josh Kimbrell is President & Chairman of CEO Round Table of South Carolina. CEO stands for “Christians Empowered & Organized.” Part of the mission of CEO Round Table is “to promote a way of life that embraces faith, family, and freedom.”