ABOUT CONTACT DONATE SEARCH

Archive

Trespassing. Disregard for private property. Abuse of power. Theft. Violation of freedom of speech.

Sadly, these words all describe a situation in Clearwater, Florida, where government officials came onto private property, took down a citizen’s Ron Paul campaign signs without warning, and then threatened the citizen a fine of up to $1,000 per day when he put the signs back up.

Click here to see this citizen’s account of the situation.

After reading last week's Wall Street Journal editorial that slammed the indictments of Paul Jacob and the "Oklahoma Three," the politically-motivated OK attorney general Drew Edmondson wrote a letter to the editor defending his actions, including his most recent blunder.

Blunder no. 1: Indicting three people because he disagreed with their politics, disregarding all judicial precedent on initiative petition signature-gathering.

Blunder no. 2: Having to revoke his grand jury indictment of the Oklahoma Three because it had a legal flaw having to do with multi-county grand juries. Edmondson, the top government lawyer in the state of Oklahoma, apparently doesn't know how to file an indictment correctly.

It strikes me, then, that his letter to the WSJ (PDF) cites the grand jury indictment as proof that the OK 3 conspired to break the law:

The signature gatherers Carpenter, Jacob and Johnson brought into Oklahoma had no intent to live here. They came only to do a job and then move on. They were not residents. Oklahoma law requires signature gatherers to be residents, and a grand jury that reviewed the evidence found Carpenter, Jacob and Johnson “knowingly, willfully, fraudulently and feloniously” violated that law.

No matter that one of the petition gatherers lived in Oklahoma for almost a year following the petition drive. Does a resident have to pledge to live in Oklahoma forever in order to be able to gather signatures? And no matter that this exact grand jury indictment has been scrapped...prior to Edmondson's WSJ letter.

Drew Edmondon's original indictment against Paul, Susan Johnson and Rick Carpenter was flawed and now he's planning to indict them again from his office, leaving out the whole grand jury thing this time.

So no, Mr. Edmondson, the indictment of the OK 3 was not "OK." It was wrong according to principle, law and judicial process.

Please don't embarrass yourself or your office any further. 

Yes, I’ll take a large order of freedom, please.

The Michigan Restaurant Association is devoted to fighting for liberty in the food service industry. What does that mean, exactly? Well, for starters, lowering and eliminating taxes, and working to stop government regulation of restaurants in the areas of health care, minimum wage and, most importantly, trans fats. As many of the members serve alcohol in their establishments, the MRA also works on liquor-related legislation.

Just last year they eliminated a 20-year state treasury practice of taxing meals that operators provide at no cost to their employees during work periods–can you believe that restaurants had to pay taxes on those?

It is refreshing to see a group that is so focused on, and successful at, expanding personal liberties. The Michigan Restaurant Association is truly a group of Modern-Day Sam Adamses.

It sounds like a case of amnesia has swept over the entire San Diego School Board. During last night's meeting they asked such probing questions as, "Who are we?" and "What are we doing?"

I'm not making this up. The Voice of San Diego reports that the school board is really confused about its purpose. 

"Who can tell me what the mission is of the San Diego Unified School District?" asked Bill Attea, the headhunter hired to find San Diego's next superintendent.

San Diego's school board fell silent, like a roomful of stumped students.

Hmmmmm...that inspires confidence.

After some debate and squabbles, the board came up with these top goals:

Creating a plan to reach low-performing students in early grades and throughout their school careers. A balanced budget that an ordinary person can understand. Effective, regular communication between the school board and the superintendent. Ongoing assessment of student achievement. And a long-term strategic plan that reaches beyond the short-term goals.

I quite like the idea about an understandable balanced budget, but with the confusion apparent among the members, I think that they have bigger things to work out before tackling the really complicated stuff.

Just in time for the often-musical holidays, allow me to present the Friedman Choir, singing a song on educational freedom.

The man himself introduces the group.

Hat-tip: Drew at NTU's Government Bytes

I’ve written about the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association before, and today I ran across a great op-ed, written by Jon Coupal, the group’s president.

The piece ran in the California Republic, and it discussed some of the work the HJTA is doing to “provide hope in a tax-happy state.”

Here’s an excerpt:

“People ask why we bother to fight government waste and the misuse of taxpayer dollars. It seems that the triple threat of out-of-control government spending, tax increases and government debt—in all its myriad forms—are so daunting that it is scarcely worth the effort.

 

“In many ways, our work is like fighting an invasion of ants in the kitchen. With diligence, you can kill hundreds of them, yet hundreds still remain. You battle the ants knowing that you won't destroy all the ants in one fell swoop, but every one you get reduces the threat to your health and food supply.

 

“The same basic principle holds true as we jointly released our fifth annual California Piglet Book last week. This 35-page booklet carefully scrutinizes dozens of examples of waste, fraud, and abuse that occurred in California state and local government. By increasing transparency and continuing to shine a spotlight on the twisted maze of government bureaucracy, we can end some abuses and build pressure for reforms that will guarantee taxpayer dollars will be better spent in the future.”

 

Read the whole thing here.

When the citizens limit property taxes against the wishes of the politicians, big-government types say that the citizens didn't know what they voted for. Don't believe me? Look at what's happening today in Washington State.

Dan Wood of the Washington State Farm Bureau sent a message this weekend that calls on on Washington State voters to contact their politicians and tell them that a 1% limit on property tax increases is the law, and that they'll be betraying the will of the people if they decide to raise taxes any higher this year. Voters approved a law that would have limited collections of property taxes to 1% year-over-year, plus that which would be collected from new construction.

Please act immediately to let them know that taxing and spending are out of control and that they need to listen!
 
Go to the Washington Farm Bureau Legislative Action Center at http://capwiz.com/wsfb to send the message.  There, you can easily locate your legislators and send a message directly to them and the governor.
 
Let the politicians know you’re watching -- and that 1% means 1%.
 
Tell them to restore the limits on taxes that the voters approved.

It is natural for state and local governments to seek employment opportunities for its residents. But should hard-earned taxpayer money be used to attract and maintain companies that promise to produce employment? I think that many people would agree with me in saying “No.” Recently Rolls-Royce--believe it or not, the carmaker also makes airplane engines-- accepted the state of Virginia’s incentive package to create an aircraft-engine factory in Prince George County worth $56.8 million over the next 16 years. Among these is $35 million performance grant that must be approved by the 2008 VA General Assembly. The grant would reflect milestones achieved by the company in areas such as employment and investment.

And here we see a bit of trouble. The above article notices that in the last five years “the typical project has generated 147 jobs against $30.5 million in public investment.” Rolls-Royce expects to generate 500 jobs. However an article by Aviation Week notes that these 500 jobs would be created over time only if a program that the new factory is expected to have the capability to undertake actually reaches “volume production.” So there is the possibility that the state of Virginia approves this $35 million grant and less than 500 jobs will be created. That is a whole lot of taxpayer money for a program that might generate the same amount of jobs as a typical project.

Government is not meant to create wealth for society; it merely redistributes it. If people wish to invest in Rolls-Royce’s operation in their region, they should do it themselves. Government should never use taxes for this purpose.

From all of us at the Sam Adams Alliancen, Happy Thanksgiving!

We'll be taking a break on the website today and tomorrow, but we'll be back on Monday. Have a pleasant holiday, don't be bashful about spending money tomorrow, and have safe travels. 

This Thanksgiving, one of the things I’ll be giving thanks for is you. Your interest in my case, your support, it means a great deal to me.  Thank you so much.
 
Without the support of so many patriots across the country, I don’t know how I’d be able to afford to legally defend myself or to respond politically to this assault on the three of us and, more importantly, on the initiative process that I believe is so critical to restoring citizen control of government.
 
Recently, we’ve begun to receive some major media attention, with strong editorials in The Wall Street Journal and in Forbes magazine. The Wall Street Journal compared Oklahoma’s actions to recent events in Pakistan. The editorial written by Steve Forbes was entitled, “Has North Korea Annexed Oklahoma?”
 
We’ll keep pushing to draw attention to this despicable prosecution being waged by Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson. Folks on the left, right and in-between recognize that this is a very ugly bit of political repression. But only when they HEAR about it.
 
Stay tuned. As the case progresses, we hope to see more and more people weighing in against it.
 
Speaking of the machinations of AG Edmondson, his office has now filed to dismiss the multi-county grand jury indictment against myself and the other members of the Oklahoma 3: Rick Carpenter and Susan Johnson. Don’t cheer yet! He hasn’t come to his senses; he’s merely scheming again. In the motion the AG filed with the court, he vowed to soon re-indict us directly from his office – minus the grand jury.
 
Why? It appears that the multi-county grand jury process is flawed and would not stand up to legal challenge.
 
Furthermore, you may be aware that when we were first indicted (Oct. 2), a chorus of charges were made that this was a politically-motivated attack by the AG. At that time, Edmondson side-stepped any responsibility for the indictment, claiming instead that it was simply the work of the average citizens on the grand jury. Now the truth of this being an Edmondson-controlled assault is clear to absolutely everyone.
 
So, for the moment at least, I’m an un-indicted, about-to-be-re-indicted citizen. But I know this fight is far from over. In the end, not only is it important that we win an acquittal in court, but we must also make certain these savage political tactics employed by Edmondson are so unsuccessful that he, and other politicians, will not repeat them.
 
Though I’m confident we will prevail, I also know there will be tough days ahead in this battle. Thank you again for being there. It means so much to me and to my family.
 
Have a great Thanksgiving. We indeed have so much to be thankful for. And together, we’ll be working to change the tyrannical behavior of the Oklahoma AG, so that come next Thanksgiving, we’ll be thankful for even more.

Visit FreePaulJacob.com for more.

Sam Adams has returned to ask the presidential candidates questions about taxpayer protection, property rights and local government. A few of his friends also joined in...  

We made these videos for the upcoming CNN/YouTube debate. Sam asked the questions, and then Samployees asked the same questions--we wanted to provide a little variation. Check out one of them here, and go to our YouTube channel to see the other five, plus all of our other awesome videos. 

The Washington Examiner wrote a great editorial today about the political persecution of the Oklahoma Three.

Here’s an excerpt:

“If truth-in-advertising laws apply there, Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson should change the friendly billboards welcoming visitors to the state in its centennial year. The revised copy should say: ‘Welcome to Oklahoma (Unless you favor taxpayer rights and political speech, in which case you may go to prison).’”

Read the whole thing here.

I wrote a few weeks ago about a new kind of double-dipping that Michigan public schools have been involved in, and now it looks like they’re not the only ones.

In Wisconsin, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported on the practice of lawmakers taking per diem expense money from taxpayers on the days they were doing campaign business—and therefore, taking money from their campaign funds as well. Otherwise known as double-dipping.

Read the whole report here.

Sarah said it well in her SamTV report on the Chicago Transit Authority a few weeks ago: "Taxpayer-funded lobbying is when your taxes are used to try to make it so that you have to pay more taxes." Now, a coalition of groups in California are working to put an end to the practice there.

I got an e-mail today from the California Alliance to Protect Private Property Rights in which they announced their partnership with the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and the National Taxpayer Limitation Committee in order to launch the "Taxpayer Protection Act of 2008." 

Flashreport.org describes it like this:

"...a ballot measure that strengthens existing laws that prohibit the use of taxpayer dollars for political activity by making it illegal for taxpayer financed organizations, such as the League of California Cities, the California State Association of Counties and the California Redevelopment Association to finance their political activities through anonymous campaign accounts."

Sounds good to me. No, not just good...Grrrrrrrrreat! 

The New York City Council recently voted to ban taxpayer-funded lobbying. This is good news, of course, but be aware that this decision came on the heels of a report released by the Citizens Union, proving that the City Council has spent $1 million on taxpayer-funded lobbying in the last five years.

Nice work saving face, guys.

At any rate, kudos to the Citizens Union, a group dedicated to engaging New Yorkers to reform government—and they’ve been doing it for 110 years. Their website states, “For more than a century, Citizens Union has worked to ensure local and state government values its citizens, addresses critical issues, and operates in a fair, open, and fiscally sound manner.”

Visit their website to learn more about how they’re working for better government in New York.

I took sailboat lessons this summer with a few friends and--after a bit of a learning curve--had a great time. But the future's not bright for the good portion of the population that enjoys boating if regulatory-happy politicians in D.C. get their way this week.

In an e-newsletter that I got today from the president of Chicago Sailing, I found out that sailboats and other recreational crafts may soon be subject to the same (water) discharge regulations applied to commercial ocean-going vessels.

Alan Veenstra writes:

Once again we have the government proposing draconian regulatory measures in place of reasoned legislation.  In this pending legislation congress will subject ALL vessels to the same regulatory discharge standards that are required of ocean-going vessels.

This not only includes bilge water, it also includes engine exhaust water, sink drainage and rainwater runoff of decks!  Can you imagine the regulatory nightmare and associated costs that will result for recreational vessels that must have the same permit to wash their decks that is required of ocean vessels who routinely dumped oily bilge collections into our lakes (that resulted in pollution and the introduction of lamprey eels, zebra mussels and other unwanted species)?

He's asking everyone to write to their member of Congress and senator to ask them to support the Recreational Boating Act of 2007, H.R. 2550/S. 2067.

Today it's licenses and permits for sailboats, and tomorrow it's permits to board a boat, to pull in the sheets and turn the tiller. It's a slippery slope, and I don't mean falling off of a wet deck.

 

Michigan is finally mad.  Real mad.  I'd go as far as to say enraged.  Citizens are banding together to fight the services tax.  The next logical step: firing the legislature.

Okay, not really firing--let's call it "down sizing" or "moving in a different direction."  Henry Woloson, an attorney and business owner in Clarkston, along with other citizens want to make Michigan a part-time legislature.  What would this entail, you ask?

• Limiting the legislature to 90 days (ending April 30th)
• Elimination of lifetime benefits for legislators
• Freezing salaries pending later review.
• Downsizing the Legislature from 148 to 100 members
• Extending term limits to 12 years

I'm not with you on the term limits--but other than that go and get 'em Michigan! 

I’ve posted before about our favorite investigative journalist, Ben Joravsky, and his penchant for exposing the corruption associated with tax increment financing (TIFs) in the city of Chicago.

He’s at it again, and has responded to the city's recent posting of an online TIF primer.

Ben writes, “Filled with mistakes, half-truths, and erroneous assertions, it would probably earn an F for its writer if it were submitted in a college course on municipal financing. Either planning officials don’t understand the most important program they oversee or they’re purposely misleading the public. I’m not sure which would be worse.”

Thankfully, Ben sets the record straight—read the full column here.

Journalists aren't doing it, so it's time for some people power. Governmentdocs.org is a new source for people to keep tabs on their government.

Take it from them:

GovernmentDocs.org was created to advance the values of open and accountable government. This site gives the public an unprecedented level of access to government documents by allowing users to browse, search, and review hundreds of thousands of pages acquired through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and other public disclosure, or “sunshine,” laws.

Groups like the Sunlight Foundation, Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Project on Government Oversight contribute to the database, and individuals can, as well. 

Drew Carey and reason.tv present a video profile of a neighborhood in National City, CA that the government wants to seize in order to give the land to a private developer. It's eminent domain abuse all over again.

It's a similar story to what's happening here in Chicago in Lincoln Square. Take a look at this video to get the scoop.

In Chicago, there’s a phrase that’s tossed around a lot among Mayor Daley and his Aldermen—“we’re moving the city forward.”

Sounds good, right? Nobody wants to move backward.

Well, not so fast. In this case, Chicago’s elected officials equate “moving the city forward” with “emptying taxpayers’ wallets.” Case in point:  the city government just approved a $276 million tax and fee increase. Why? Well, Mayor Daley needs this money to “move the city forward,” of course.

As the city moves forward, the taxpayers are getting trampled—until they do something about it. Chicago Sun-Times columnist Mark Brown put it this way:

“If you're sitting at home trying to figure out how the City Council could approve $276 million in tax and fee increases—including an $83 million property tax hike—when you're already ticked off about what you're paying now, then that may be the problem. You’re sitting, when what you really ought to be doing is moving forward.”

It’s a good column—read the whole thing here.

 

Donald Kerr, the principal deputy director of national intelligence, recently said it was time the American people accept a new definition of privacy, which would include accepting government eavesdropping. Unfortunately for him, our Founding Fathers disagreed.

The fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution was designed to preserve the right of citizens from unreasonable search and seizure without a warrant “in their persons, houses, papers, and effects”—like their phones, for example.

Comments like the ones made by Deputy Director Kerr are similar to the excuses given by British government officials when they were taxing American colonists during the time of the American Revolution. In 1776, George Grenville said, “Protection and obedience are reciprocal. Great Britain protects America and America is bound to obedience.”

One can imagine Sam Adam’s reaction to that ridiculous statement. I personally value my liberty, believe in the Constitution, and respect the ideals upon which this country was founded. Deputy Director Kerr, however, clearly believes exactly the opposite.

I had the strangest bus ride home yesterday.

It started off really well—traffic was light, the bus was fairly empty so I snagged my favorite seat, and I was looking forward to getting home a little earlier than usual.

However, a few minutes into the ride, the driver inexplicably stopped at an empty bus stop and didn’t move on even though no new passengers were in sight. I was reading and listening to music, so I wasn’t paying a whole lot of attention at first, until I noticed a heated discussion going on between the driver and another passenger.

Evidently, the bus was early. Seems like a good thing, right? Apparently not. When the passenger asked why we weren’t moving, the bus driver said he would be written up if the bus was early, so he had to sit and wait for a few minutes until he was “back on schedule”—never mind the fact that three buses from the same route had already passed us.

“But what about the customer?” the passenger asked. “Why isn’t the CTA concerned about its customers?”

The driver had no answer. And when other passengers pressed the driver about this ridiculous rule, and asked how long we’d be sitting there, he got irritated, yelling “I said a couple minutes, didn’t I?! Just sit down!”

If the CTA’s business model includes senseless rules like this, is it any wonder their system is in shambles? This is only part of the problem, of course—this is just one symptom of a mismanaged business that puts customers and taxpayers at last priority.

As promised, here's a series of video interviews from our visit to City Hall on Friday. The City of Chicago wants to take the properties of 36 thriving small businesses in the Lincoln Square neighborhood, but the business owners are fighting for their rights.

Visit savelincolnsquare.com for more information and to sign up for their mailing list. 

If you think you have a pretty good idea of the responsibilities of each Cabinet agency, you might be surprised by this editorial, written by Melanie Scarborough of the Washington Examiner.

For example, did you know that Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez is “one of the president’s point men” on immigration reform, a responsibility of the Department of Homeland Security? Or did you know that the Department of Health and Human Services counts “management of National Forests” among its tasks, normally under the jurisdiction of the Department of Interior?

And so on. Scarborough outlines a lot of overlap between the Cabinet agencies, suggesting a lot of positions that could be eliminated, and a lot of money that could be saved.

It’s a good piece—check it out here.

What would you do if you ran a business in a nice neighborhood when, one day, your elected representatives informed you that they were passing a law that would require you to sell your property? What if you didn't want to move, or if you would only sell for a certain price? Business owners in the Lincoln Square area of Chicago are dealing with this problem right now.

This morning, Katie and I went down the street to City Hall, where we attended a hearing of the City Council's Committee on Housing and Real Estate. They're considering whether to move forward with plans to begin the process of acquiring the land on top of which 36 thriving businesses operate in order to "revitalize" the area by selling the land to a private developer for six-story condos.

Yeah, it doesn't sound right to me, either.

We'll have a special SamTV report online on Monday, which will include interviews with the owners of Chicago Soccer, Decorium Furniture and The Dental Corner--all businesses that could very well be displaced by politicians who are looking to increase property tax revenues rather than protect citizens' basic right to own property.

To get an idea of what's happening in Lincoln Square and so many other places across the country, take a look at this review of a new book called "Bulldozed: 'Kelo,' Eminent Domain, and the American Lust for Land" over at RealClearPolitics.com. Our friend Heather Wilhelm penned this one, and it goes into the stories of the brave people who stood up to their unaccountable local governments.

I can’t believe it’s already November. Except for the dropping temperatures and the fact that it gets dark at 4 p.m., I love this time of year and I’m getting excited for the holidays (and for some time off work).

Congress, however, is probably even more excited—because, you see, for these hardworking legislators, the holiday season means LOTS of time off. We’re talking a couple months.

My father-in-law sent me a funny video yesterday revealing Congress’ oh-so-busy year-round schedule, complete with numerous important “district work periods.” The video is a couple months old, but still so appropriate. Check it out here.

It’s a tough day for Illinois politicians.

As of 5 p.m. tonight, former Illinois Governor George Ryan will be a resident of the federal correction center in Oxford, Wisconsin, where he will serve a 6 ½ year sentence for government corruption.

Ryan was convicted of passing off lucrative state contracts to friends, using state funds and employees to run his personal campaigns, and stopping an investigation of bribes paid for truck driver’s licenses.

He still vows his innocence, however, and will be taking the case to the Supreme Court. Read more here.

According to a recent poll conducted by Glengariff Group of Chicago, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich should watch out:  more than 50 percent of voters would recall him if they had the chance.

The poll also revealed that 65 percent of voters favor a constitutional amendment giving them the ability to recall elected officials—there is currently no recall in Illinois.

I can’t say I’m surprised. Citizens can only take so much before politicians’ tax-and-spend philosophy pushes them to the brink. That time has come.

"...abridging the freedom of speech." Tell that to the folks who brought you "campaign finance reform" laws that make it nearly impossible for ordinary citizens to participate in the political process.

Yesterday the Institute for Justice--the libertarian law firm that represented Susette Kelo when her house was being taken away--released a report detailing how difficult it is for people to become active in politics. In “Campaign Finance Red Tape: Strangling Free Speech and Political Debate," IJ shows how all sorts of people fail when it comes time to fill out the necessary paperwork to establish a political organization or campaign.

“In America today, in order to speak out about politics, you need more than an opinion—you also need a lawyer,” said Steve Simpson, an Institute for Justice senior attorney who represents the neighbors in Parker North.  “But the First Amendment is supposed to protect free speech and political activity—not mire it down in bureaucratic red tape.”

The lesson is clear: Politicians who are afraid of the citizen's initiative and referendum process (because it takes away their power) are establishing stricter and stricter rules so that no one will even bother to use their right to petition and right to free speech.

Read about IJ's methods and conclusions in the full report.

It's not the most publicized Election Day ever, but there are many important ballot initiatives going to the voters today that will really matter in the fight for accountable government.

Our friends at the National Taxpayers Union have made a list of initiatives and what they will do in the short and long term. They include:

Utah: Referendum 1 will permit voters to decide final enactment of a law that creates "vouchers" of up to $3,000 that parents could use to enroll their children in private schools. The amount would drop to $500 for upper-income households. The Utah public school systems, which spend more than $7,000 per pupil, would receive limited-duration partial funding for each student who transfers to a private institution.

Washington: Initiative 960 would clarify and strengthen the state's recently abused taxpayer protection law that requires a two-thirds "supermajority" of the Legislature or voter approval for most tax increases. The proposal would also require legislative approval (as opposed to administrative imposition) of fee increases. I-960 is sponsored by Tim Eyman, Mike Fagan, Jack Fagan, and the group Voters Want More Choices, who have led several tax limitation measures to victory.

Check out the entire list, and don't forget to vote. And--full disclosure--the Sam Adams Alliance supported the I-960 campaign in Washington.

Help get media attention for the persecution of the Oklahoma 3.

Brandon Holmes recently invited me and many others to join him beginning tomorrow (Wednesday) to write letters to mainstream media outlets about Paul Jacob and the Oklahoma 3. He set the event up on Facebook, and describes it like this:

As most of us know Paul Jacob and two other people, known as the "Oklahoma 3," have been indicted in Oklahoma for daring to try to put a limit on the amount of the taxpayers' money that the legislature of that state could spend. Unfortunately you don't know about it because you heard the news from a major media outlet. The purpose of this event is to try to change that.

Letters for Paul is a 3 day letter writing blitz in which participants will sent emails or letters or make phone calls to major media outlets such as MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, NBC, ABC, NY Times, etc in addition to their local media outlets asking for more coverage of the plight of the "Oklahoma 3". 

Let's do it! 

I wrote a while back about my suspicions of a secret toolkit for politicians—you know, something that helps elected officials abuse voters and taxpayers.

Well, here’s the latest entry:  “How to Spend $3 Million of Taxpayer Money on Nothing.” Check it out here.

Here are the latest responses from our ongoing fill-in-the-blank that allows you to say what you would do to improve government if you were the mayor of your city or town.

Johny B. from Portland, OR writes that he would...

"...invite [the Citizens Against Government Waste] into the city to help analyze the budget; to help reduce spending and duplicated efforts; and to consolidate programs to reduce management personnel."

Judy K. of Fountain Hills, AZ writes...

"I would establish a website; publish a column; and have a monthly spot on TV and radio, all with the purpose of educating the populace about governments function.  What it should be; what it is; and how much it costs each taxpayer."

And Nick E. of Orlando, FL writes that, as mayor, he would...

"Outlaw the taking of political contributions from people that do business with the city."

Good ideas, everyone. Let me (richard.lorenc at samadamsalliance.org) know where you'd like your free bobblehead sent and I'll get it in the mail to you post haste.

If you're interested in getting your voice heard on our website (and getting a Sam Adams bobbler), then let us know what you'd do if you were mayor.

In a bad move that only enables the "wolf-crying" that the Chicago Transit Authority has been engaged in, IL Governor Rod Blagojevich bailed the CTA out for two more months.

The governor issued a $27 million grant today that doesn't solve the problem, and delays either drastic tax increases or service cuts. The CTA has mismanaged its budget--unlike the other government-operated service called the Metra, which serves the suburbs--and now wants taxpayers to dig deeper into their pockets to pay for its waste.

Check out Sarah in our SamTV report below to see what's going on...

A friend sent me a link to an op-ed printed in the Detroit Free Press yesterday, and I’m really wondering how much Governor Granholm paid the author to write it.

The title was “Be proud to pay your share of higher taxes.”

Read the whole thing here—but beware (especially Michigan taxpayers):  your blood pressure is likely to increase at least a few points.

This coming Tuesday, November 6th, I have to make a decision: Do I vote with my heart, or vote with my head? As a cancer survivor, Texas’s Prop 15 sounds wonderful: 3 billion spent on cancer research. After I received a message on my phone and an email asking me to vote yes, I told my boyfriend he ought to do the same. To which he replied, “But where does the money come from?” Now, my boyfriend doesn’t usually get himself involved in politics, but there he was thinking more clearly than me. He said he’d vote for it, but only if he agreed with the place from which the government was taking the money. So I grabbed my computer and I searched. What I found was not very reassuring. Guess who ends up paying for it? That’s right: taxpayers. The Texas government won’t be rearranging other areas of the budget or using surplus to pay for Prop 15. Somehow, it’ll be springing out of taxpayers' wallets.

So what’s wrong with me, don’t I want to support the fight against cancer? Of course I want to- I already do. Donations come out of my wallet regularly, and I make sure that my friends and family participate when it comes time for fundraising. I make contributions to the American Cancer Society and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The difference is that I do it voluntarily. What’s more, I hold these organizations accountable for the money I give them.  As MQSullivan on Prop15FACT.org points out, private investors are notoriously better than public servants at expecting a return on investment. Who in ten years is going to remember to check up on where all 3 billion went?

What is truly problematic about Prop 15 is the way it is promoted. The word “cancer” is like the word “children” in the world of political voting standards: don’t even think of voting against them. If you do, you obviously disdain cancer survivors, loathe little kids, and no one talks about it, but we know you also like to microwave kittens. Politicians and celebrities alike make the debate emotionally charged, as opposed to weighing the pros and cons logically.

As someone who has been through cancer, I really, really want to vote yes for this. All that money could do so much good. As a taxpayer who likes to encourage government accountability and fiscal responsibility, I’ll have to vote against Prop 15. My heart says yes, but my head says no. I hope this doesn’t mean I’ll have to go home and cook my cat.  

In an amazing move Tuesday, Congress unanimously voted to continue a ban on Internet taxes. This move sharply contrasts their usual tax-and-spend attitude, as well as their partisan bickering. The ban includes taxes on Internet access as well as taxes that are Internet specific.

A group called the Don’t Tax Our Web Coalition, which is made up of telecommunications firms and trade associations, stated that a permanent ban on Internet taxes is needed but applauded the bill nonetheless.

“The fact that this is the longest extension that we’ve ever seen, plus there are some very important clarifications in the final bill that will help protect the Internet from taxation, is a great result,” said Broderick Johnson, a spokesman for the coalition.

We here at Sam Adams are very pleased to see Congress come together to oppose taxation and big government interference in the lives of the citizens it represents—we only wish they would do it more often.

 

We need better decision-makers who can make better choices on how to spend our money. As an example of waste, consider massive sports stadium subsidies, which don't rank at all on my government priority list.

Andrew Moylan of the National Taxpayers Union--a group that I'm a big fan of--just released a report on the growing finanical burden placed on taxpayers due to rising subsidies for sports stadiums. This at a time when governments everywhere and at all levels are claiming budget crises and proposing tax increases.

Here's taste of the hard truth:

The sweeter the subsidy, the more problematic the price tag. Moylan's research demonstrates that as the taxpayers' tab increases, so does the total stadium construction cost. Stadiums that were built with 50 percent or more in taxpayer subsidies were $65 million more expensive on average than those built with less than 50 percent in subsidies. The reason? Not surprisingly, private financiers demand more fiscal accountability with their own money than big-government bureaucrats do with other people's tax dollars. 

Read more of Andrew's work here.

What’s the solution to the public education crisis in America? Well, Paul Richards, principal of Needham High School in the Boston suburbs, thinks he’s found it.

According to Richards, the explanation behind the fact that one in 10 public schools in the country are now considered “dropout factories” is clear:  students are too stressed! To combat this terrible problem, Richards is pushing in-school yoga classes to help overworked students reduce stress. He’s also encouraged teachers to schedule homework-free weekends and holidays.

Richards isn’t the only one, either. At least 40 other high schools and middle schools have gotten behind this crazy plan to de-stress students with relaxation classes.

Oh, and the best part? Taxpayers are funding this lunacy!

Michelle Malkin wrote a great column about this for National Review Online—read it here.