a Tennessee Alliance for Progress event in 2005. In 2009, TTR spoke at a Nashville Tea Party rally in opposition to the federal bank bailouts in response to the financial crisis and in opposition to the stimulus expenditures. In 2011, Cunningham was a guest speaker at a paid event held by several other state organizations and described as a conservative "grassroots legislative training" session. In a January 2011 presentation to the Tea Party of Bradley County (entitled "How to Fight Local Tax Hikes and Win") Cunningham invoked Khmer Rouge, Stalinist Russia, and the Chinese Communist Party "Thankfully we haven't had to result [sic] in violence and certainly no one is advocating that, but clearly many people have. And clearly many people had the opportunity to fight these forces of tyranny and they didn't do it. Ultimately, the burden is on our shoulders and we've got to accept that burden and we've got to take the time to get involved in government at every level - nationally, state, local." Cunningham moderated a Tennessee 20th Senatorial District Republican candidate discussion forum in 2012. TTR has sponsored efforts to persuade state officials and candidates to sign a "Taxpayer Protection Pledge" promising not to raise taxes. The organization has also sponsored polls of Tennessee voters on various issues. TTR endorses candidates in state elections; in 2006, it endorsed Edward Glenn Bryant, in his unsuccessful 2006 bid for a Tennessee U.S. Senate seat. In 2005 TTR gave a "Taxpayer Hero Award" to State Representative Donna Rowland and anointed the City of Memphis the booby prize winner of the "Tennessee Tax Bowl" for having the highest combined county and municipal tax rate in the state. In 2006 TTR spearheaded a successful effort and petition drive to amend the Nashville city charter requiring any increase in property taxes to be approved by voters. TTR has spoken out over the property seizures and police raids of Gibson Guitar Corporation in Nashville over alleged violations of the Lacey Act governing the importation of wildlife and plants under conservation protection, specifically hardwoods used in the manufacture of that company's guitars. Speaking at a 2011 rally in support of Gibson, Cunningham called the raids an abusive federal overreach. In 2011, TTR asked state legislators to work to oppose federal health care reform proposals. That Cunningham spoke at an event sponsored by Ralph Weber's company MediBid and the Association of American Physicians