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Today is Tax Freedom Day. This means that we have worked for four months—from January 1 to April 30—just to pay this year’s federal, state, and local tax obligations.
I don’t know about you, but this just doesn’t seem like much of a cause for celebration—especially since this not-so-joyful day keeps creeping backward, keeping us slaves to tax burdens for more and more days each year.
Unless we do something to reverse this trend, we’ll be “celebrating” Tax Freedom Day right along with New Year’s Eve before we know it.
For more information on Tax Freedom Day, click here. And to learn more about the Tax Foundation, which seeks to educate taxpayers about sound tax policy, as well as the size of the tax burden, click here.Michiganders held a taxpayer rally a couple of weeks ago, where they brought hundreds of teabags to give to Governor Jenny "Tax-Em-While-They're-Down" Granholm and their State "Use-Tax-Money-to-Buy-iPods-for-Every-Student" Legislature.
I may not be from the "Deer State" (as some people call Michigan), but I can appreciate a good rally for government accountability.
Americans for Prosperity has posted a nice video summary of how the rally went down. Check it out.
So says Steven Greenhut in today's Orange County Register:
Have you ever been in one of those destructive long-term relationships that, at some point, you really just needed to end?
I'm not referring to my marriage to my lovely wife of 23 years, but to my 25-year relationship with the Republican Party. In recent years especially, I have found fewer things in common with the party. I feel used and abused. We've obviously grown in different and incompatible directions.
It's a groan-inducing cliché, I know, but it applies here: I didn't leave the party; the party left me.
I just watched the video Richard posted and, let me tell you, if I have to start paying a tax to make my alarm clock shut off—especially if I’m charged per snooze button hit—I’m going to be pretty mad…and pretty broke.
I doubt I’m alone in that, so that’s why I’m glad to see Pennsylvania lawmakers taking action to scale back the sphere of government influence by reining in state spending.
One legislator, state Senator Mike Folmer, explained that “the proposals are aimed at getting government to live within its means, just as taxpayers and businesses must.”
“How do we get true tax reform until we get spending under control?” Folmer said.
People have taken notice of the need to curb Pennsylvania’s spending after the gross state product grew at less than 75 percent of the national average from 2001 to 2005. Furthermore, the state budget is estimated to skyrocket to $42 billion—a 59 percent increase—by 2016 if something isn’t done to curtail spending.
It’s frightening to think that video might not be that far-fetched if we keep going on this path—so here’s to those in Pennsylvania who are fighting back.
Talk show hosts Kirby Wilbur and John Carlson on KVI in Seattle, Washington, won their case before the Washington State Supreme Court and now they are actually free to talk about political causes. Was the freedom to speak one's mind on the radio really in jeopardy? Read more.
With this decision and a strong case before the U.S. Supreme Court challenging the speech-silencing McCain-Feingold Act, there may yet be a flicker of life left in our battered old First Amendment. Read more here.
I just got back from a fantastic conference put on by the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, where I got to see how people in other countries spread the free market, accountable, transparent government message.
One group present was the Taxpayers' Alliance, which is active in Britain. They, along with a group called 18 Doughty Street, put together this cool little ad. Enjoy!
Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels planned an early morning press conference to showcase recent road improvements yesterday. Unfortunately for him, and all Seattle residents, he had to cancel the appearance. Why? A water main broke, flooding city roads so badly that some were rendered useless. Click here for the whole thing, and be sure to check out the photos.
Taxpayers in Shasta County, California are tired of waiting around for their local government to represent them—so they’re taking matters into their own hands. Citizens are joining together to form the Shasta County Taxpayers' Association, which hopes to provide a “voice of reason” in local politics.
Their website says: “Today we will add another voice to those considered by decision makers - the opinion of the ones paying the bill- the taxpayers….Our mission is to protect and defend the interests and rights of taxpayers in Shasta County as a watchdog of government at each level.”
Well done, and best wishes!Today's Tribune uncovers a kickback scheme that, surprise, surprise, bilked taxpayers:
Among the defendants swept up in the 1 1/2-year federal probe were employees of school districts in Niles and Skokie and the Chicago Heights Fire Department.
"The public entity was paying higher prices, resulting in higher commissions for the sales agents, and ultimately the taxpayer would suffer," Fox said.
The whole article is online at the Chicago Tribune.
New Jersey is the state for eminent domain abuse. The American talks about a World War II veteran and others who had to give up their homes in order to make room for pricey developments that will bring in more tax revenue. Click here for the full article, and click here to check out more featured content from this fantastic new magazine.
People have a hard enough time keeping their government transparent and accountable—and in Texas, the Legislature is considering bills that would make it even more difficult for citizens to keep tabs on their government.
Kudos, however, to Jennifer LaFleur of the Dallas Morning News, who is spreading the word about why this is a bad idea. LaFleur, the paper’s Citizen Watchdog Columnist, even took some heat from a few fellow colleagues when she recently took a stand for open records by testifying before the Texas House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee to explain why this shouldn’t be done.
Well, done, Jennifer. Check out her Watchdog Column Archives, as well as the links she provides to federal and state watchdog resources.
Do elementary schools need guidance counselors? Well, in Auburn, ME, the School Committee thinks so, but City Councilor Ray Berube says otherwise. He thinks the local school can do just fine by dropping five counselors, saving taxpayers more than $200,000.
Berube didn’t stop there, either—in response to the School Committee’s attempts to scare taxpayers into increasing spending by saying that high school principals and athletic programs would be axed otherwise, Berube proposed 1.2 million in cuts, targeting non-essential administrative and support personnel. The positions include: Office of Learning and Technology co-director, at a $75,511 salary; Administrative assistant to the assistant superintendent, $31,870; Assistant grant writer, $38,192; and one dean of students at the middle school, $68,298.
Taxpayers should have more public servants like Mr. Berube, who are willing to stand up to threatening tactics from school administrators. Now Berube has set his sights on city hall, looking to cut more than $300,000 in administrative expenses. Auburn has about 25,000 people—just imagine the savings to taxpayers if every other city of 25,000 made similar cuts.A county prosecutor and his team in Washington state tried to hide the $6 million of taxpayer money they spent defending him against a sexual discrimination lawsuit. The Olympian, a newspaper in the area, made repeated requests to find out how much money was spent, but were denied every time. That is, until State Representative Brendan Williams introduced a bill that clarified that attorney fees definitely are public information. The bill passed in the Washington state House and Senate - a great victory for citizens! Read more here.
The Government Accounting Office reports another widespread rip-off of taxpayers due to exactly zero in the way of financial controls. Federalworkers in Washington, DC are being given free passes to ride the Metrosystem (subways and buses) to work. But many of these passes, called Metrochex, are going to people who don't use them. Instead, they sell them on Ebay, and elsewhere. Overall, the fraud is costing taxpayers millions. Click here for more.
Paul Jacob points out that many of the people who are supposed to benefit from wasteful spending projects don't actually want that wasteful spending to happen. Read more here.
In college, quick games of computer solitaire got me through many term papers, momentarily distracting me from the writers’ block that prevented me from finishing that last page. It seems Iowa senators have a similar strategy—only they’re playing computer games on the taxpayer dime, in the senate chambers during session.
Although freshman state senator Bill Heckroth is calling for lawmakers to quit playing games and, well, do their jobs, more veteran legislators seem to be dismissing this idea, saying: “lawmakers spend a lot of time this time of year waiting for core groups of legislators to draft amendments to bills and strike deals. That leaves many lawmakers and clerks with time on their hands to play games on their computers.”
I can practically hear them laughing and calling Heckroth a naïve whippersnapper—how silly of him to expect elected officials to spend their taxpayer-funded time in office wisely!Tomorrow, the Supreme Court will hear an important case, according to the Wall Street Journal:
Most eagerly anticipated Supreme Court cases these days are the political equivalent of the Hatfields and the McCoys, with one side giving no quarter to the other. A notable exception will be argued tomorrow: Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life. Even supporters of abortion rights are rooting for the Wisconsin group to win.
At issue is a provision in the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) of 2002 which severely restricts "electioneering," or grass-roots advocacy, within 30 days of a primary and 60 days of a general election.
A large coalition of groups have weighed in on the case. Read more about it here , here , here , and here .
Katie's blog post about government subsidies on unhealthy crops reminded me of something else I read today - leaders in the food industry are worried that the government is going to limit the advertising companies can use. Why? Well, some government agencies are blaming the food industry for obesity. Click here for more.
Who issued this unequivocally straightforward statement of deservingnity–one can make up words on blogs, right?–and what, exactly, do "they" deserve? Could it possibly have something to do with educational freedom, and could the utterer of these words be a friend (or foe) of school choice?
Well, turns out he's a foe, and his name is Mike Merrifield, Colorado State Representative Mike Merrifield to be exact. Until recently, he was the chairman of the Colorado legislature’s education committee...until he let a fellow state rep know that he believes, and I quote, "There must be a special place in hell for these Privatizers, Charterizers and Voucherizers...They deserve it!"
We don't hear that kind of rhetoric on the campaign trail now, do we?
Jim Waters of the Kentucky-based Bluegrass Institute has more in an article that he wrote on their website, where he elaborates more on some politicians' opposition to educational freedom. He also includes a few notes on some of the most recent school choice successes nationwide, one of the most profound of which is in my home state of Georgia.
Oh yeah, Georgians (and everybody else) sure do deserve it. School choice, that is.
The politicians sure aren't keen on doing anything about it, so why don't you?
One of my fellow employees here at the Sam Adams Alliance is known for his daily quips about corn being “the root of all evil.” I usually just laugh and roll my eyes, but I have to admit, he may be on to something here—because, as Michael Pollan writes, “You Are What You Grow.”
Follow the above link to read about how the Farm Bill has profoundly impacted the American environmental and societal landscape. It, for example, encourages—even rewards—the very kind of unhealthy meals for school lunches that the Trans Fat Police are railing against. It also helps decide what happens on nearly half the private land in the nation.
Despite all of this, the Farm Bill keeps getting passed year after year after year. Why? Because, as Pollan writes: “a handful of farm-state legislators will thrash out the mind-numbing details behind closed doors, with virtually nobody else, either in Congress or in the media, paying much attention…because most of us assume that, true to its name, the farm bill is about “farming,” an increasingly quaint activity that involves no one we know and in which few of us think we have a stake.”
OK, Richard, I concede: you have a point. But, once again, the real bad guys here are the politicians, who will not act accountably unless we citizens force them to. And while people are beginning to “vote with their forks” and recognize Farm Bill problems, true change will require citizen vigilance bill after bill, year after year.
I'm so glad it's almost five on Friday! My job is kind of awesome, but I knew this week would be a long one on Monday, when I couldn't get my tax numbers to match my other tax numbers. Ugh. Talk about getting the week started on the wrong foot!
Well, Tim Carney takes on taxes at the business level in his column and talks a bit about why they are so complicated:
There are hundreds of people...who bounce back and forth between forming laws and regulations, and then advising corporations on how to deal with the laws and regulations.
Wow - that's a profitable way to go: just write some crazy complicated laws, and then charge lots of money to show big businesses how to follow them! Read more here.
I don’t know about you, but I just don’t see how $198,000 for the Akron Zoological Park and $248,000 for the Alaska Sealife Center count as educational spending. Nevertheless, these were among the special projects that received money from education funds in fiscal 2005.
The Heritage Foundation finds this just as crazy as I do, and they ask an important question: if American education is in such peril, why are we sending hundreds of thousands of dollars of education funds for special interest pet projects?
Read more here.
"The Ultimate Resource" will detail free market solutions to poverty.
Set to air on www.HD.net, the documentary features:
Muhammad Yunus, winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, founded the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, which uses microfinance to bring opportunity to the world’s poorest people by helping them to start their own businesses.
Hernando de Soto, founder of The Institute for Liberty and Democracy in Peru, helps developing countries open their systems — creating strategies for legal reform that offer the majority of the world's people a stake in the free market economy.
James Tooley, British professor of education policy, explores the widespread, dramatic impact of low budget private education-- financed not by charities or wealthy supporters-- but by the poor families themselves in India, China, Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana.
And more.
From the department of weird things to brag to your friends about: an advice seeker asks "Dear Abby" what to do about a friend who bragged about using government money intended for the needy to fund an extravagant lifestyle that includes new cars and lots of plastic surgery. Click here for the whole thing.
Although taxpayer dollars are funding severance packages and “extended” pay deals for Sioux City, SD workers, not all of these payment deals are open to the public, thanks to flawed South Dakota law.
Kudos, however, to Americans for Prosperity and two South Dakota legislators, Sen. Jason Gant and Sen. Nancy Turbak, who are advocating the state law be changed.Five city council members are being investigated for using more than $100,000 of taxpayer funds for their own personal use in Lynwood, California. These expenses include recreational travel, complete with exotic dancers in private rooms. Kudos to Corruption Chronicles for finding the story and the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office for exposing these guys.
I have to admit, I really miss Spring Break. Being a recent college graduate, this is my first year away from life organized by a school schedule—and that means no Spring Break. And let me tell you, when it’s still 30 degrees in April in Chicago, nothing sounds better than a week under the palm trees in Florida.
Congress apparently misses Spring Break, too. However, unlike me, they seem to think it’s OK to burden taxpayers with their vacation expenses. According to the Washington Examiner:
“All told, the military flew at least 13 congressional delegations to various destinations during the Easter recess -- at an estimated rate of $10,000 or more per flying hour.”
I guess as long they’re labeled “congressional delegation trips,” Caribbean vacations are totally fair game for taxpayer funds.Yesterday I wrote about municipal elections that were being held throughout the country. I mentioned how my cynical mind could see how some politicians could choose the date for an election based on how low--for whatever reason--they anticipate the turnout might be.
Well, if there are such politicians out there, they chose well, at least in Orland Park, IL.
Phil Kadner has a short piece in the Daily Southtown Newspaper today on how low the turnout was in a couple of Chicago suburbs. He quotes a local resident who said, "I don't read about that government stuff. It bores me." Kadner continues:
"I saw teams of six or seven people standing on street corners outside polling places approaching motorists...'Vote for Kellogg,' these people shouted...Now that's the sort of enthusiasm and dedication this country needs on Election Day. I suppose some cynics would point out that Kellogg, Mayor Eric Kellogg, has been accused of nepotism, cronyism and bullyism while in office...Kellogg apparently has inspired unquestioned devotion among a segment of the community (that community being composed largely of municipal employees)."
Decisions are made by those who show up, and everyone--especially government employees--will always vote in their best interests.
When Mike Dunmir saw legislators snickering and rolling their eyes at citizens, he decided to do something about it. Find out what steps he took in today's Common Sense .
I just found out about a Dallas Morning News weekly column dedicated exclusively to citizen watchdogs. Click here for recent editions.
Once in a blue moon Tax Day and Election Day manage to fall on the same day. This usually isn't good news for those officials on the ballot who advocate greater government spending. But taxes can sometimes act as a diversion so that unaccountable politicians can sneak in their little pet projects while the "little people" are rushing to the post office at the last minute.
Take what's happening in Corpus Christi, TX today. On this Tax Day 2007, voters--those who turn out--will decide on whether they will renew their Crime Control and Prevention District's spending mandate for 10 years.
Sounds good, right?
Sure, everyone likes good police protection, but some community leaders think that giving the district authority for a decade is a bit too much. Jack Gordy, for one, says that he recommends extending the mandate for only five years, and advocates a "No" vote on the ballot item today. Gordy is the president of the Corpus Christi Taxpayers Association, a local group that advocates government accountability with taxpayers' dollars.
Visit their website today to learn more, and don't forget to vote!
I can’t decide if this story is too funny or too scary: in Maine, a new bill will teach children to be compassionate.
The Act to Promote Compassion in Schoolchildren, LD 1525, reads:
"The commissioner shall prescribe by rule a course of study for all students in elementary and secondary schools, including private institutions, and for the homeschooling curriculum. The course must include the principles of compassion and humanity to all living creatures, including animals and birds. For the purpose of this section, ‘compassion’ means empathy and awareness of the interdependence of living things. The course of study must at a minimum be for 1/2 hour per week during the school year."
The government doesn’t just want to tell you what to think, they want to tell you how to think. Can a bureaucrat quantify compassion and humanity? Can the government make you care? In Maine, at least, legislators think the answer is yes. I can’t wait for the day when we must choose which is less compassionate: telling Grandma and Grandpa they can’t build their retirement home, or cutting down a tree housing a bird nest.
Paul Greenberg has a solution.
This republic, which was born of a tax revolt -- indeed, several of them -- has lost touch with its roots. We have become inured to the injustice and, even worse, the unknowable intricacies of the tax system so that complaints about it sound more like ritual than indignation.
Most of us don't object to paying our taxes -- living in the United States of America is not only a privilege but a great bargain. What we object to, or should, is how hard, how complicated, how expensive and sometimes just plain hopeless it is to figure out how much we owe.
Read the whole piece in the Washington Times .
When you think of Washington the state, what comes to mind? Thick forests filled with evergreen trees? The Space Needle? Microsoft? NASCAR?
Wait...NASCAR?
Well, if some state officials have their way, $500 million of taxpayer dough will be spent on a race track and a basketball arena. Check out the Heartland Institute's Budget and Tax News for the whole story.
Paul Jacob wonders why soft drinks are made with high fructose corn syrup instead of real sugar in today's Townhall column. Hmmm...could there some kind of political motivation behind it? Click here to read the full column.
It never ceases to amaze me how financially irresponsible our society is—from the twentysomething members of “Generation Debt” to the 25 percent of Americans who have saved zilch for retirement, it’s painfully obvious we are a debt-crazy bunch. This certainly makes our government’s fiscal irresponsibility less shocking—but no less excusable.
This little gem of advice, then, may just hold the solution for all this apparent confusion about smart money management. Perhaps a training video for politicians?
Hat Tip: Consumerist.com
According to the Christian Science Monitor:
Maybe the era of big government isn't over, after all.
As Americans finish their annual tax-filing flurry to meet a Tuesday deadline, it is true that tax rates are lower than they were a few years ago. But according to a different yardstick, the federal government's reach is expanding.
Slightly over half of all Americans – 52.6 percent – now receive significant income from government programs, according to an analysis by Gary Shilling, an economist in Springfield, N.J. That's up from 49.4 percent in 2000 and far above the 28.3 percent of Americans in 1950. If the trend continues, the percentage could rise within ten years to pass 55 percent, where it stood in 1980 on the eve of President's Reagan's move to scale back the size of government.
Click here to read more.
Public transit--a great thing to have when planned well and run efficiently--is often one of the biggest wastes of taxpayer money out there. Transit authorities are frequently (mis)managed by unelected boards who aren't content to make transit improvements with the money allocated to them, and instead choose to use that money to lobby for even more.
On what level does that make sense?
Apparently, the folks at Americans for Prosperity in Wisconsin don't think that it does on any level, which is why they planned to hold a rally on the steps of the state capitol today so that they could protest the meeting of the Wisconsin Regional Transit Authority's board.
Boots and Sabers has a run-down:
The RTA is funded by a $2 fee on rental cars. This fee generates about $500,000 per year. The RTA has spent $496,000 of that on a lobbying firm to lobby the legislature to increase the $2 fee to $15 (among other ideas for hiking taxes). Yes… an unelected board is using taxpayer dollars to pay lobbyists to lobby for higher fees. Your government at work.
The board canceled its meeting after fearing a good citizen turn-out. That doesn't mean that they won't try to meet in some smoky room at 3 AM tomorrow, but kudos to AFP-WI for getting the word out about today's planned gathering.
Voters in North Carolina may get a chance to say, loud and clear, that they won’t stand for eminent domain abuse—lawmakers are pushing for a vote to decide on outlining the policy in the state constitution.
"You want to make sure that when the current crop of state legislators, city council members and county commissioners are gone, there's a protection in place so that their successors won't be tempted to do it," said Rep. Dan Blue, D-Wake, one of the House bill's primary sponsors.
Amen to that.
Community leaders worked with the Sam Adams Alliance this week to stop Target from using eminent domain to seize property from small business owners. You can join them - click here to read more and download a printable flyer to take to your local Target.
Thanks to North Buffalo Journal and Review, Paulie's Point, and Your Daily Dose of Vitamin Moose for spreading the word.Whether or not you're worried about trans fats...this video is fun for all.
A gentleman named Christopher Knight ran for a position on the Rockingham County, NC school board. He didn't win, but check out his sweet ad.
The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transport is refusing to release a $4.5 billion contract. Read the details here.
In a historic move to ignore voters, Maryland became the first state in the nation to sidestep the national Electoral College. Instead of giving the state’s 10 electoral votes to the candidate the state’s voters choose,
Lawmakers across the country have systematically dismantled every other part of our Constitution, so I don’t know why I didn’t expect this, too. Nevertheless, this is exactly why we’re building a network of supporters. If we don’t start fighting back when our public servants ignore the Constitution and trample our rights, we may not have any rights left to fight for.
Have you ever had the gumption to read a law, rule or government code? Did you have your dictionary nearby to decipher what "non-discretionary budgetary spending protocols" were; or a dry-erase board handy so that you could map a flow chart that showed just how one section and paragraph linked to another?
Well, if you live in the Sunshine State, put away those smelly markers because there's a new executive order called the Plain Language Initiative that'll help you read state statutes with ease. In fact, if you're into health care, just this week, Florida's government health care administration put plain language into practice.
The initiative ensures that clear, common language is used in government documents and that information is presented in a logical sequence. "Plain language increases government's transparency and accountability and is a large part of ensuring open government in Florida," said Crist.
Seems pretty clear to me. I wonder what section of the code I'll curl up with first...
Paul Jacob asks who really should be blamed for private property rights violations and environmental abuses in other countries: the people committing the abuses or the consumers who purchase the end product? Read his take here.
How much do you suppose your state government spends every year? How much do you suppose it spends on improving sites with such official names as the aptly-named Big Pig Jig site in Dooly County, GA? (The answer, for Georgia at least, is $35,000 of pure pork in this year's budget. Read more after downloading the budget here in a MS Word doc).
Whilst pining for my days back home in Georgia, I digress...
Behold a new coalition called Show Me The Spending. Its mission is to support the creation of public databases that permit anyone to search through state government budgets in a manner similar to the forthcoming FederalSpending.gov website that will do the same for the national government.
On showmethespending.org, the group lists some model legislation, what your home state is--or isn't--doing to spend accountably, as well as an easy way for you to get in touch with your state's decision makers.
Way to go, you sensible spending guys and gals!
Hat tip: Kristina at the NTU blog
…or at least that’s what lawmakers in Texas believe. The state House of Representatives is currently considering a bill proposed by Rep. Warren Chisum that would—what else?—meddle in the personal lives of married Texans. The bill, which would double marriage license fees if couples don’t agree to premarital classes, may be well-intentioned (lessening the demand for state poverty programs), but using one government program to fix another failing government program? Really? That’s a recipe for disaster if I’ve ever seen one.
What’s more, should the relationship get rocky, a similar bill—also sponsored by Rep. Chisum—would require couples to wait two years before getting divorced if they don’t take “marriage crisis” classes.
The real kicker, though? According to the Houston Chronicle: “Chisum's bills requiring premarital classes and crisis classes for marriages in trouble include a separate funding proposal for low-income Texans. It would tap into nearly $10 million in a federal welfare block grant to help pay for the classes.”
I think I speak for taxpayers everywhere when I say, pay for your own marriage classes.Robert Samuelson covers Christopher Buckley's new book...and the coming entitlement explosion.
I don't know if Thomas Jefferson and Sam Adams were friends, but I'm liking The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protect of Free Expression's latest "contest." I definitely didn't have time to read all of the entries, but I'll share my favorite. The Maine Bureau of Liquor Enforcement denied a beer distributor’s application to sell their brand of beer because this government agency didn't like the artwork on the label.
I'm glad that this organization is out there, watching what government organizations are up to and letting citizens know the outrageous, absurd and just plain crazy. Click here to read more about these Maine beer art critics.
Maria Aposporos wasn't having any of the bullying tactics that the Stamford, CT city council was using to try to get her to move out of her restaurant. So, she took action...and won a seat on the city's board of representatives.
CNN/Money has a short profile on Aposporos and what she did to prevent her city government from seizing her 'Curly's' restaurant for $1 million less than what it was worth. In an effort to get her to give in, the city even had the gall to put up an ugly chain-link fence around the place, blocking her access to the parking lot and dumpster.
But what did Aposporos do? She won a seat on the city's board of reps. Although as a member of the minority Republican party, she concedes she doesn't hold too much sway, I'd say that her efforts and success in getting a seat at the table qualify her as a Modern-Day Sam Adams.
Perhaps her being part of the process will help to fix the broken eminent domain process in Stamford that continues to threaten her restaurant today. Stay tuned...
Everyone has an opinion about global warming and the hysteria surrounding it, but can’t we all agree that a bill saddling SUV-drivers with up to $2,500 in fees—and rewarding green drivers with rebates up to $2,500—is ridiculous? Well, in California, I guess they can’t.
James Saleet, the leader of the Lakewood, OH battle against eminent domain abuse, died last week at 79 years old. He is survived by his wife, three children, 12 grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and his enduring legacy of model citizenship.
A senior attorney from the Institute for Justice, which helped the Saleets and their neighbors secure a victory for private property rights, said that James and his wife, JoAnn, really showed what eminent domain meant to individual people—and that, “together they changed the world.”
Lakewood’s mayor, remembering Saleet’s battle against eminent domain abuse, echoed this praise: “Jim emerged as a leader and a model citizen from what was really a sea of controversy and confusion,” said Lakewood Mayor Tom George, then a city councilman. “His arguments were always clear and fair and he never, ever made any personal attacks against the other side, even though it was a very emotional issue.”
Here’s to remembering James Saleet, and the powerful example he set as a Modern-Day Sam Adams.Paul Jacob discusses the best way to help the homeless in today's Townhall column.
Why do businesses flock to Indiana but flee from Michigan? Could it have anything to do with the attitudes of the state government? In Michigan, Governor Granholm is always calling for citizens to pay for more (often ineffective) programs to fix things. Meanwhile, in Indiana, Governor Mitch Daniels monitors government performance and keeps the state accountable. Click here to read more about the Indiana State Government Performance Report.
On average, you and I worked 40 days last year just to pay our taxes--this number is up from 38 days in 2005. The Tax Foundation has some sobering figures on not only how many days we work to pay for out-of-control government growth, but also how many hours and minutes per day we work for Uncle Sam and his state and local "children", according to an article on CNN/Money:
Based on an 8-hour workday, the research group estimates that Americans as a whole work:
1 hour 43 minutes to pay all federal taxes (income, sales, etc.)
1 hour 22 minutes to pay for housing and household operations
1 hour 8 minutes to pay for health and medical care
52 minutes to pay all state and local taxes (income, sales, etc.)
51 minutes to pay "other" taxes
40 minutes to pay for food
39 minutes to pay for transportation
28 minutes to pay for recreation
17 minutes to pay for clothing
FYI, that means that we're working almost half of each work day (3.5 hours) to pay various taxes.
Do you feel better now than you did before you read this post? I thought not.
Coming from me personally, the answer to all of this indentured servitude is the FairTax.
If you use digg.com, digg this story so that more people can know just how bad it's become.
John Graham gives the details in today's Washington Times.
Community leaders and bloggers in Kansas City successfully used FOIA to hold city politicians accountable last month. They got the word out about the abuse of some serious money - and when election time came, voters kicked some of the officials involved out of their positions. Great work!
Can you imagine if the government dictated exactly how you needed to raise your child, to the degree where they monitored more than sixty aspects of your toddler's development? Well, it's real in the UK. Click here for more.
Anyone who knows me knows that I am an Apple fanatic. Some even go so far as to call me a "Mac Fanboy", but even I have a limit when it comes to supporting the global technology takeover by Apple products. (Which will happen, mind you.)
The MI GOP blog today reports on a plan by Michigan Democrats to use taxpayers' money to purchase an iPod for every schoolchild in the state. Given Michigan's current economic woes, this very generous purchase by politicians on behalf of students' entertainment desires would necessitate a pretty drastic tax increase, the amount of which is still unknown according to this article in the Detroit News.
Saul--our fearless blogger and chairman of the state GOP--speculates that House Speaker Dillon owns Apple stock, which isn't as much of a stretch than proposing that the state's investment in iPods is actually an investment in education.
I'm still a Mac Fanboy, but give me a break, Michigan Democrats!
Here’s to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, who has made it easy for
Project Lightspeed. It sounds pretty slick and futuristic, and it probably is, but the fridge-sized boxes that AT&T is planning to plant in many Illinois residents' yards for this amazing project are anything but attractive.
But wait, they're much more than that! That's right: AT&T is banking on Illinois House Bill 1500, which would permit AT&T (and other carriers, I'm sure) to build ugly relay boxes on a person's property without permission. The bill would basically lend AT&T the government power of eminent domain.
Although the bill apparently has some support in Springfield, many towns are coming out against the proposal, and just this week the village of Geneva placed an example of the type of yard art that AT&T is itching to install.
Opponents say the bill will obliterate local control, not just over customer service, but over local rights-of-way. Companies would no longer have to get a permit to build in public places.
No doubt AT&T demanded the ability to do this because the state wants to get its fingers into the telecom business a bit more.
YAY for government meddling!
Not.
Over at Reason, Steve Chapman writes about parallels between the well-publicized attorney scandal and the Chicago cop who videotaped himself beating up a bartender.
His suggestion to both: "They might all do well to start each day by reading the Constitution to remind themselves of the foundation of our system of government. Not the whole thing, just the first three words: We the People."
Click here for the whole article.
It’s that horrible time of year—you know, when we fork over sizable chunks of our income in taxes. And, unfortunately, it’s not getting any easier to bear. Although Richard just posted that he is considering making Alaska his home because of their low tax burden, the rest of the U.S. isn’t so lucky. According to the Tax Foundation, the burden of state and local taxes is at a record high this year.
Please help us restore accountable government—then maybe April 15 won’t be such a dark day on the horizon.
When it's snowing in Chicago I sometimes forget about sunny days altogether and consider moving somewhere else--anywhere else. Most times I think of how life might be on a deserted South Pacific island, but then I get sad when I imagine life without my favorite pizza joint--Giordano's--just down the street. (I might miss my friends, too.)
At this point, I consider somewhere a bit more within the realm of civilization, where I can have social contact with something other than a toucan and still exercise some semblance of sovereignty over my own life. Alaska might come to mind now, since I figure that their low, low tax burden might be enough for me to bear the snow.
I definitely have my priorities straight, even though I've come full-circle on the snow problem. Oh, well.
Speaking of Alaska, it tops the list of the US's most Tax-Friendly States as ranked by CNN/Money. Alaskans' state and local tax burden is 6.6% of the people's income. The least tax-friendly state is Vermont, which taxes its people a whopping 14.1% of their gross income.
All of this tax talk has me wondering: Do they have a Giordano's in Alaska?
In today's Common Sense, Paul Jacob discusses a case where the greed of the government exceeds that of gamblers and casinos. Click here for the whole thing.
That's the length of our federal tax code. That's no easy reading. As USA Today puts it:
This year, individuals and companies will spend about $300 billion, according to the non-partisan Tax Foundation, on tax preparation costs. To put that in perspective, that is a 20% levy on top of the $1.5 trillion they will actually pay in taxes....are working for more transparent government. Visit their website to learn more.
It did command The Washington Post front page on April Fool's day. Maybe the story was all a really funny joke. But I didn't get it.
The article, "Corruption Stains Timber Trade," details the disregard for both the law and the environment in a number of repressive regimes in Asia, namely Burma, China, Russia and Indonesia.
No surprise there, just yet another argument against tyranny and repression, as if we needed another. But no, the lead quote in the feature article makes clear who the evil villains really are. "An American environmentalist," who travels frequently to these areas and wants to shield his identity, tells us: "Western consumers are leaving a violent ecological footprint in Burma and other countries."
Western consumers, really? American carpenters are to blame? Or is it really the single mother buying a wooden cradle for her baby who produces "a violent ecological footprint"? Not the Burmese government's repression and disregard for property rights? Nor the logging companies bribing corrupt officials?
Americans for Prosperity’s Illinois division and its activists are working hard to defeat Governor Blagojevich’s not-so-brilliant plan for the largest tax hike in state history. Join the fun—you can take action to protect Illinois taxpayers, too.
When I moved to Chicago about a year ago I chose a neighborhood that was near a train station. But, as of yesterday, all of my intricate planning went to naught as the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) began a three-year project to add an additional set of tracks to the aging rail system. This will help out three years from now, but until then, public transitites will have to adjust their schedules. I, for one, will take the bus more frequently, and will invest in a pair of work shoes with better traction so that I might avoid falling all over my fellow bus riders at every stop light.
The three-year time frame on this renovation makes me wonder: Is this as efficient as it ought to be? Could relying on private companies to improve the system rather than public workers actually speed things along and save the people money?
Hope as we might, we don't know the answers to those questions, but an article in the Economist opines on the poor condition of the overall Chicago-area transit system and gently suggests bringing private enterprise in on the fun.
The people of Chicago pioneered other types of market ventures. Let's not rest on our laurels this time.
The good news: sunshine is coming. The bad news: it's still gray out. It's true about spring and it's also true about government openness. Read today's Common Sense for more.
There's an interesting discussion concerning high interest rates for low incomers going on over at New York Times and The Economist.
They raise questions like: Is it better to be able to get credit at really bad interest rates than no credit at all? What about the very real risk of falling into the cycle of having to pay such high interest rates on debt that it becomes very difficult to get ahead or even keep up with payments?
Congress might make it so there are more rules in place for lenders to protect low incomers...but it seems like there could be unintended consequences. It also seems like it would make more sense to let people keep the power to make their own decisions on these sorts of issues.
Paul Jacob discusses the importance of free speech over full disclosure in this week's column at Townhall.
Responsible leaders must fight the system.
Michigan
Here are his proposals:
- Elected city officials would contribute 5 percent toward their health insurance costs.
- The city would hold off on hiring 32 extra employees, saving $3.3 million.
- Bernero would commit the city to saving $2.7 million in energy use at city buildings and office supplies. (how?)
- The $5.5 million city park system expansion project would be delayed, conserving tax dollars in a time of economic difficulty.
Seems pretty reasonable…if only
Teenagers in the Boston area hoping to get a head start on their summer tans may be out of luck—lawmakers are considering a bill that would restrict teenagers younger than 16 from using tanning booths.
Perhaps they haven’t heard of...the sun? Anyone who wants bronzed skin need only spend some time outside—although maybe we should keep that under wraps. Legislators bound and determined to save us from ourselves may decide next that no one can venture outdoors without a sphere of UV-ray protection around us.
The Examiner newspapers have a strong commitment to informing the public about waste and unaccountability through their willingness to take advantage of public records laws. For instance, they've posted a treasure trove of information from municipalities in the DC metro area, including salaries for transit system workers and educational system employees.
They call it the Washington Examiner Community Action Network (WECAN), and write:
"WECAN illustrates The Examiner’s commitment to the idea–unpreced