Dr. Paul D. Davis, grass-roots tea party leader in Gwinnett County throws down the gauntlet: "When we fight for Georgia's rights, we all had better be ready to stand firm with our loins girded and our resolve intact. The 10th Amendment is the cure to a tyrannical federal government; The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

That cure is nullification and it was first used for unconstitutional federal action by an earlier tea partier named Thomas Jefferson: "That the several states who formed that instrument, being sovereign and independent, have the unquestionable right to judge of its infraction; and that a nullification, by those sovereignties, of all unauthorized acts done under colour of the instrument, is the rightful remedy."

Now that elections have passed, the next step for tea partiers is to reign in an out-of-control federal government.

Alan Brown, a grass-roots tea party leader in Dade County, says "the states need to defy the tyrannical federal government to restore our liberties and freedom."

Ben Brandon, another Dade County tea party leader, best sums up the fix: "The only way to fix these problems is to go back to basics which the Founding Fathers gave us. Every problem we face in this country today is a result of our elected officials ignoring the United States Constitution for decades."

Tea partiers intend to restore the constitutional republic given to us by the Founding Fathers. They mean to: (1) end income taxes and allow people to keep more of the fruits of their labor; (2) shrink the size and influence of an out-of-control federal government; (3) end the culture of corruption that comes from earmarks and spending; and (4) restore the sovereignty and the protections afforded to Georgians by the 10th Amendment.

Electing constitutional conservatives to all levels of government is the best way to achieve those goals.

Local, state and federal politicians act as though money is picked from trees behind the U.S. Treasury or Gold Dome; tea partiers know that money comes from wallets of ordinary Georgia citizens.

At breakfast and the dinner table, tea partiers fret over the unimaginable public debt burden the federal and state governments are handing their children. To protect their families, they have stepped up to run for local, state and federal offices.

Dean Kelley, tea party leader in Northwest Georgia and Walker County says: "We are encouraging tea partiers to run for public office at the local and state level. We will use our influence and organization to get those tea partiers elected to office."

In 2012, you will see tea party candidates engaged in the political process to run for offices at the local, state and federal levels. These candidates are being recruited right now; they are being trained, nurtured and financed to be put forth to the public.

The tea party message for all local, state and federal office is fiscal responsibility, smaller government and state sovereignty. The tea party is not finished and is growing its numbers. The movement is the greatest civil uprising since the American Revolution.

Small distinct groups of patriots rallied around local leaders to oppose an oppressive British government and high taxes. Today, local leaders cut from the same cloth have emerged all over Georgia and their ranks grow daily in opposition to a tyrannical federal government.

Dawn Forbes, leader for the Golden Isles Tea Party, says, "The strength of the tea party is the people and the unorganized nature of the movement."

What people are witnessing is a grass-roots uprising by the people and the wholesale rejection of a failing welfare state imposed upon us by our elected officials.

The tea parties are going to hold federal officials accountable for unconstitutional votes. These same tea partiers are getting to know their local and state officials.

Elizabeth Mancha of the 13th Colony Patriots says, "We are building partnership teams who will be in close communication with local, state and federal legislators." These local and state officials are being urged to reject federal largess and take a stand for state sovereignty.

If these officials fail to live up to these demands, we will challenge these candidates in primaries and defeat them at the ballot box.

Vikki Murphy Entrekin, leader of the Chattooga County tea party, says, "I think they should be escorted home if they violate their oath to defend and protect the Constitution."

Specific legislation at the federal level that tea partiers support: (1) repeal of Obamacare; (2) repeal the 16th and 17th Amendments; and (3) abolish the Federal Reserve.

Michelle Bouchelle of the Georgia tea party says: "Our goals this year are to accomplish our legislative agenda at the gold dome."

Legislation tea partiers support at the state level are: (1) nullification of Obamacare; (2) nullification of the Environmental Protection Agency mandate of the compact fluorescent light bulb; (3) the Constitutional Tender Act (HB3); (4) repeal the state income tax; (5) opt out of No Child Left Behind; and (6) opt out of SCHIP.

Yes, we have only just begun to fight, and our numbers are growing through education and word-of-mouth advertising.

In the end it will be tea partiers, holding a pocket Constitution, who will restore our constitutional republic given to us by the Founding Fathers. Join a tea party and become a patriot in the struggle to save our nation.

Bill Evelyn is director of the State of Georgia Tea Party LLC.