Time to Downsize Federal Government

A video from the Cato Institute on downsizing government was brought to my attention by my fellow Red County Blogger Steve Dalton.

For liberals out there who have a hard time understanding our foundational and constitutional mandate of limited government in the United States, let me explain something.

For instance, this video focuses on the need to downsize (dare I say "eliminate"?) the Agriculture Department. I grew up on a farm, the son of a farmer who was the son of a farmer, going back generations. I married into a farming family, with my father-in-law as a rancher going back generations. I appreciate the importance of agriculture.

But agriculture does not need to be regulated at a Department level by the federal government. In fact, it should not be, under our constitution. Agriculture will function much better under a private economic environment...and will cost the taxpayers billions less. Market forces have always been and remain the best regulator of practices in the agriculture or any industry. The government needs to end this Soviet-style central farming model and get its paws out of agriculture.

The insanity of government-run agriculture doesn't just extend to bloated bureaucracy and inefficiency. Our system also fosters egregious inequalities.

The Cato Institute video mentions Riceland Foods, an organization that I mentioned in a Rapid City Journal column I did a couple of years ago on agricultural subsidies. Subsidies are typically there to help "the little guy;" you know, the one socialists are so enamored with (my dad and father-in-law are, incidentally, one of those "little guys). So why does the bulk of the largess from the farm bill go to huge farming operations that don't really need help?

From my 2006 RCJ column:

For example, a 2004 Heritage Foundation report says Riceland Foods, an Arkansas co-op, received $110 million in farm subsidies. Yet Hoovers' business information says in 2006 to date, Riceland made $937 million in sales. We need the farm bill for this?

It's time for this to end. Time to send all our rowdy friends home, pick up the beer bottles, clean up the puke and declare that this party is over.

America has flirted and cavorted with socialism for some 60 years or more. The signs of its failure are legion here at home and internationally.

It's time to return to the free market system that made America great.

A Meeting to Cut the Budget

This SNL skit on a company holding a meeting about cutting its budget reminds me too much of government attempts (and failures) to force itself to live under restraint.

The similarities: few people seem serious about it, the most serious proposals are the most harmful to the organization, the people being asked for advice are idiots, in the end it never gets done...and sooner or later it's all going to come crashing down.

Santa Looking for a Bailout

With so many lined up with their hand out at the federal trough for bailouts, what's next? Will Santa come asking you and me (i.e. the money behind the federal trough) for a bailout?


From our friends at Americans for Limited Government.

Lack of Gratitude for Forced-Charity

There was an interesting letter on the Letters to the Editor page of the Rapid City Journal today.

It regards the proper use of taxpayer-funded charity, and it contains enlightening information about one of the many reasons why government-mandated, taxpayer-funded charity is inadvisable (if you're discerning enough to catch it).

Food stamp usage recipients’ business, not everyone elses

Monday, Dec. 1, in regards to the Two Cents section, somebody wrote in regarding the food stamp program. The last part state “…however we also need to put more control on the food stamp program, I don’t think the program was set up to buy candy, soda and similar products.

I’ve read similar letters and if I can be honest, they make me very angry.

I’m a disabled old lady that is raising my grandchildren. I love them very much and when they cry and beg for a candy bar or a can of pop every now and then I’m going to let them have it. They deserve a treat just like any other child. Most of these mothers you are griping about are treating their children. Of course, we have to sacrifice something, but that’s out business, not yours.

Don’t you have enough to do than to be picking on poor people?

You sound too much like Marie Antoinette who allegedly said, “Let them eat cake.” Well we are trying to do just that. If you’d leave us alone.

Stick your big nose into something that really needs sniffing.

IRENE CLIFFORD
Rapid City

I have just one question for Ms. Clifford with regard to whose business it is if food stamp money is being spent wastefully.

Who's paying the bill: her or the taxpayers?

John Fund on Chicago Corruption and the Daley Machine

John Fund at the Wall Street Journal discusses corruption in Chicago politics and the Daley Machine which has ruled Chicago politics for decades (see video below).

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was arrested yesterday for attempting to sell Barack Obama's senate seat.

Some have joked that with the number of Illinois governors getting in trouble with the law, they'll have to open a "Governor's Wing" at the state penitentiary.

And now we have a president-elect with roots in the machine.

I noticed yesterday that while Obama-advisor David Axelrod said "I know he's talked to the governor," Obama told us he had not talked to the governor. Who to believe...

Will our whole nation become a Chicago "machine?"

The Stench of Big Government Out-Smells Tourist Stench

Senator Harry Reid may not like the stench of tourists in the U.S. Capitol, but the smell of unwashed taxpayers is nothing to the putrid odor of bloated, decaying government.

You know what they say about people living in glass houses, right? I think the same goes for people who live in houses of corruption and decay.


From our friends at Americans for Limited Government.

Ho Ho Ho, Merry Christmas, Slackers!

Industry slackers are praying the government-god or Santa Claus will bring big taxpayer-funded gifts this Christmas season.

Exercising fiscal irresponsibility and then expecting the taxpayers to rescue you isn't capitalism, guys.


From our friends at Americans for Limited Government.

Senator Reid's Delicate Nostrils Saved by Visitor Center

The Most High Senator Harry Reid of the United States Senate says he welcomes the new $621 million U.S. Capitol Visitor's Center.

Apparently his sensitive olfactory organ has been suffering from being in close proximity to stench of the unwashed masses who come to defile the holy sanctum of the Capitol.

It seems the unwashed masses are good enough to pay for a massively-over-budget and years-late facility at the U.S. Capitol (one that also seems to ignore the faith heritage of our country...but then, can't have competing religions at the temple where the government-god is worshipped, can we?) but not good enough to set foot in the Holy of Holies. Only high priests of the government-god such as Reid should be able to do that.

Thank the government-god that we now have an appropriate distance between the unclean and the truly worthy. No longer will our capitol building be defiled by filthy commoners.

"My staff tells me not to say this, but I'm going to say it anyway. In the summer because of the heat and high humidity, you could literally smell the tourists coming into the Capitol. It may be descriptive but it's true."

Reid
by burghnews

Americans Dismally Fail Civic Knowledge Test

Elected officials score worse than citizens

A couple of weeks ago the Intercollegiate Studies Institute released a disturbing report which found that more than twice as many Americans knew facts about "American Idol" as knew facts about the Gettysburg Address.

According to CNS News,

More than 2,000 people were administered a 33-question test this Spring on American history and our political and economic institutions. Of them, 71 percent -- college and non-college educated alike – got a failing mark, ISI’s Josiah Bunting III said, presenting the study at a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Thursday.

The CNS News article also says

Less than half of Americans can name all three branches of government. -- Only 27 percent of Americans know that the Bill of Rights prohibits the government from establishing an official religion in the U.S.-- 54 percent do not know that the Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war, not the president.

As bad as the average person did, sadly politicians scored lower than the general public.

Seventy-nine (79) percent of elected officeholders did not know that the Bill of Rights expressly forbids the government establishment of an official religion.-- A large number (43 percent) of politicians did not know what the Electoral College does.

The results of this survey go a long way in explaining not only the mind-boggling ignorance seen every day on the internet, but help explain how our nation's government has gotten so far off its Constitutional track and into a wilderness that by design it never should have gone.

Darryl DeMarzio, an assistant professor in the education department at the University of Scranton says a philosophy called "constructivism" bears much of the blame for this sad state of civic ignorance.

"That’s the idea that knowledge is not something that teachers possess and give to students or teach students," DeMarzio told CNSNews.com. "Rather, knowledge is a process in which students construct meaning for themselves. "So a historical question in a history class today is not, ‘Who were the major political participants of World War II?’ But it’s ‘What do you think of World War II?’ or ‘What might we learn from World War II?’ Think for yourself. Construct your own knowledge, your own meaning out of this."

He also blames political correctness in education which supersedes fact.

The overall score of the over 2,000 people who took the 33-question test was 49%, a failing grade in any school. While none of the demographic groups listed in the major findings achieved a passing score, some groups did notably better than others.

For instance, in the income demographic, those making $75K-$100K and $100K+ scored 55, with the score dropping with each successive income group, to a low of 40% for the <$30K group.

By party, Republicans and Independents scored highest at 52%, with Democrats the lowest at 45%.

Interestingly, by ideology, "moderates" did the best at 51%, with liberals next at 49% and conservatives at 48%.

Those with military service out-scored those who had never served 51-48%.

Scored by church attendance, the "seldom" attenders scored best at 51%, followed by "never" at 50%, with the "once a week" and "more than once a week" bringing up the rear at 48%.

Comparisons between citizens and elected officials in specific areas of knowledge also yielded interesting contrasts.

Citizens scored 83% on the Declaration of Independence while officials scored 69.78%.

For the definition of free enterprise, citizens were again the highest 41-32%.

Citizens understood the electoral college better than elected officials 66-57%.

The Scopes Monkey Trial, dealing with evolution, was understood better by citizens (67.76%) than by elected officials (59.21%).

Abortion was also understood better by citizens (50.77%) than elected officials (43.94%).

Some other areas, with citizen scores first and then elected official scores:

- First Amendment Freedoms 79.58 73.32

- FDR and the Supreme Court 25.07 19.24

- Taxes and Government Spending 27.7 22.12

- Free Markets vs. Centralized Planning 16.25 10.71

- Action Prohibited by the Bill of Rights 26.41 21.24

- Source of phrase "a wall of separation" 18.92 15.07

- Powers of the Federal Government 75.01 72.69

- Definition of a Progressive Tax 51.26 49.97


Elected officials out-scored citizens in only four of the 33 areas:

- Definition of a Public Good 27.6 28.03

- Gettysburg Address 21.06 22.95

- Fiscal Policy for Economic Stimulus 36.07 39.93

- Lincoln–Douglas Debates 19.06 23.62

But again: notice that all these areas, no matter which group scored the best, all yielded pathetic results.

Of the 2,508 tested, only 272 achieved a passing grade. Only 11% passed the test. When we see how profoundly ignorant are both our elected officials and the people who elect them, it is no wonder that our government only resembles the U.S. Constitution in a few areas.

Those who settled and founded America understood the vital importance of a good education--not just holding a degree, but an education. They established fine institutions of learning such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton and others...which have today degenerated into liberal institutions which dispense politically correct propaganda at the expense of genuine knowledge, and provide a degree in snobbery rather than equipping America's leaders to maintain a free republic.

You can take the test yourself here. Hopefully you do well. But if you do not, for the sake of our republic, educate yourself in the areas of your deficiency. In this day and age of public libraries, cheap books and the internet, there is no reason why a person cannot see to their own education, at least to a level which would make them a responsible citizen.

As for our country, we need to take this liberal preoccupation with politically correct pap and throw it in the trash can. We need to get back to basics and back to facts. We need to get back to teaching our American heritage instead of maligning it.

And as a society, we need to adjust our focus away from sports and American Idol and Britney Spears, to our freedom, our civic duty, lauding a good education over our pop-culture quotient.

Parents must take a more active interest in their children's education. They must also assume more responsibility to ensure that education is actually happening, and not blindly trust that the public education system is getting the job done. Parents need to take the time to teach their own children, talk with them about current events, tell them about how the world works, and quiz their children on a regular basis even while driving to appointments and such.

Karl Marx, the enemy of all that makes America great, once said "A people without a heritage are easily persuaded" (the implication here being that they are easily led astray). He understood better than we Americans do how important it is that we maintain a working knowledge of our heritage.

If we want to remain strong enough to protect ourselves and maintain the level of affluence we enjoy as Americans, we must take the time to understand our history, our heritage, and how our republic is supposed to work.

If we want to remain a free people, we must study our heritage and embrace it.

GOP needs return to limited government agenda

BY STAR PARKER
FOUNDER & PRESIDENT
COALITION ON URBAN RENEWAL & EDUCATION

Now that Democrats have won the White House and have widened their margin of control in Congress, does this signify that American voters have moved to the left?

Many Republicans question this claim. And a new report from the Pew Research Center seems to verify that America is still a right of center as a country. But the picture gets murky when you look at the details. And this murkiness presents a considerable challenge for Republicans who are trying to figure out where to steer their party.

According to the just published report, more Americans today call themselves conservative than liberal, and the relative percentages in each category has hardly changed since George W. Bush was elected to his first term in 2000.

Thirty eight percent of Americans self-identify as conservative, 21 percent as liberal, and 36 percent as moderate. This compares to 36 percent, 18 percent and 38 percent, respectively, in 2000.

But taking a closer look at what this means leaves you scratching your head. You have to wonder what it means today to think of yourself as conservative.

When asked if the Bush tax cuts should be made permanent, only 38 percent of those who said they are "conservative" said yes. And 50 percent of "conservatives" said they favor government guaranteeing health care "even if it means raising taxes."

Although 71 percent of "conservatives" said they oppose gay marriage, only slightly more than half, 52 percent, said that abortion should be illegal.

Many Republicans point to the fact that traditional marriage initiatives won in all three states where they were on the ballot -- California, Florida, and Arizona -- as evidence for the conservatism of the country. But pro-life initiatives lost in all three states where they were on ballots -- California, South Dakota, and Colorado.

What can be the message here for those vying for leadership of the Republican Party?

Some argue that the party should lighten up on the social agenda. The party is all white, they say, and there is no future without Latinos and blacks.

But consider the obvious. First, conservatives define the Republican Party. According to this study, 68 percent of Republicans call themselves conservative.

Second, it should be obvious from the above, that if conservatives are rooted anywhere, it's more in the social agenda than in the fiscal and limited government agenda. Where in the world would the party be if the leadership tried to uproot from social conservatism?

Third, consider what is going on with blacks and Latinos.

In this same Pew survey, 25 percent of all Democrats called themselves conservatives. But among these same Democrats, 35 percent of blacks call themselves conservative compared to 21 percent of whites.

Why? Blacks are social conservatives. Blacks understand the havoc that moral relativism has caused in their communities. And, this is also the case with Latinos.

As was widely reported, blacks and Latinos voted for Proposition 8 in California, supporting traditional marriage, despite the majority of them also voting for President-elect Barack Obama.

So where is the logic in Republicans abandoning social conservatism in order to reach blacks and Latinos?

It appears that the message getting lost is the importance of limited government and fiscal conservatism.

Health care is almost 20 percent of our national economy. Too many are not getting what it will mean when bureaucrats will define what health care is and when the IRS comes knocking to check on the policy you bought. Too many seem to have forgotten that prosperity is created by individual freedom and creativity and not government programs.

These are tough times and families are under duress. Perhaps it's tempting to think that opening the door to more government is a good idea. Particularly in an environment where every day another half trillion-dollar check is being cut in Washington for bailout programs.

When most Americans say they are conservative, they mean it. Too many, however, are forgetting that this means limited government as well as traditional values. We need new, energetic Republican leaders to get this message across.

Star Parker is president of the Coalition on Urban Renewal & Education and author of the new book White Ghetto: How Middle Class America Reflects Inner City Decay.

Prior to her involvement in social activism, Star Parker was a single welfare mother in Los Angeles, California. After receiving Christ, Star returned to college, received a BS degree in marketing and launched an urban Christian magazine. The 1992 Los Angeles riots destroyed her business, yet served as a springboard for her focus on faith and market-based alternatives to empower the lives of the poor.

Blowing the Horn of Plenty

From our friends at Americans for Limited Government.

Politician Likes Thanksgiving Stuffing

From our friends at Americans for Limited Government.

Cold Day in Hell May Affect SD Highway Funding

By Gordon Garnos

AT ISSUE: For months now South Dakotans have been hearing about the shortage of funds in the state's highway fund program. This, with the reduction of fuel being used on our highways, has also caused a cut in the amount of gasoline tax the state gets from motorists. This, of course, adds to the problem of how South Dakota is going to be able to not only maintain its highways and bridges, but to repair and/or replace our highways and bridges.

The lack of funding also poses several interesting questions.

A FORMER West River long time legislator was guaranteed re-elections when he profoundly uttered his often used expression, "It will be a cold day in hell before I'll ever vote for a raise in taxes."

This and similar expressions have almost always been favorites to South Dakota voters. We have been generally recognized nationally for our conservative views, particularly when it comes to raising taxes. However, considering the shortfall on highway funding, South Dakota now finds both voters as well as our legislators may have to rethink "cold day in hell".

A special legislative committee has been meeting off and on for the past several weeks trying to assemble the pieces of the puzzle that will help solve highway funding. Ideas generated from these meetings have run the gamut from the proposal to have yet another study committee, to increasing South Dakota's 22-cent gas tax by several percentage points.

HERE ARE SOME pieces of the puzzle that make an interesting picture. First of all, one piece of the picture puzzle is the fact that $72.3 million will be needed to maintain our roads as they are. Another $17 million is needed for bridge preservation. Yet another $25 million is the cost of the wish list by the Department of Transportation which needs to be done, but which are not scheduled due to the lack of funding.

As I mentioned, the possible solutions are extremely varied. For example, the legislature would have to raise its current 22-cent tax on gasoline and 20 cents per gallon on ethanol by 13 cents a gallon to come close to raising the $72.3 million needed for highway preservation. This appears to be excessive, but if a portion of this proposal would be combined with other tax and fee raises, the $72.3 million may be able to be reached.

ANOTHER SUGGESTION to raise that $72.3 million would be to add the four percent sales tax to the purchase of fuel. It would appear that these two options are the best solutions because using motor fuels would make everyone on the highway share the load. I might add that when I say everyone, this includes those thousands of people, maybe millions, who use South Dakota as a drive-through state.

At the same time, raising license plate fees a few dollars should not cripple any of us too severely. Another option that has been discussed would be to remove the fees on license plates for older vehicles. However, the older cars are generally owned by those who cannot afford newer cars.

This would put a major stumbling block on this proposal.

THERE YOU HAVE IT, a picture puzzle that may not have the l,000 piece puzzle that we used to put together as kids. But assembling the few pieces we do have makes the job as difficult.

How the legislature will resolve the highway funding problem will be dealt with in just a few short weeks. Other options would be to do nothing at all or throw it to another study committee which are both bad ideas.

Consequently, if anything is going to be done, our legislature will have to realize there may be a "cold day in hell" as well as in Pierre awaiting them....

Gordon Garnos was long-time editor of the Watertown Public Opinion and recently retired after 39 years with that newspaper. Garnos, a lifelong resident of South Dakota except for his military service in the U.S. Air Force, was born and raised in Presho.

South Dakota Measure 10 Concedes Defeat to Unions

SIOUX FALLS -- The campaign committee supporting Initiated Measure 10 Tuesday conceded defeat, saying it could not compete with a nearly $1 million television advertising campaign paid for by the National Education Association in Washington, D.C..

Jim Anderson, Sioux Falls, thanked the campaign's supporters.

"We appreciate those who stood with us in the face of a barrage of negative advertising paid for by out-of-state union officials in Washington," Anderson said. "We're looking at this first time around as a learning experience, and we remain committed to pursuing these needed ethics reforms. We'll make the necessary changes this experience suggests are needed, and we'll be able to prepare accordingly next time knowing that the real opposition to ethics reform in South Dakota is NEA union officials back east."

Measure 10 ban on tax-funded lobbying fully constitutional

GUEST COLUMN

By Stephen Wesolick

Voting "Yes" on Measure 10 will stop politicians from using our tax dollars for lobbying and political campaigns, prohibit campaign contributions by government contractors, and require posting government contract information on the Internet.

As a lawyer and drafter of Measure 10, I am obliged to set the record straight. Voters can be assured, knowing that such laws in place federally and in other states have been upheld as fully constitutional.

For example, the Hatch Act prohibits federal contractors from making campaign contributions. The Securities and Exchange Commission and a growing number of states have adopted the same restriction.

The SEC prohibits municipal bond underwriters from doing business in states where they've made political contributions within the previous two years, saving taxpayers an estimated $500 million the first year alone. A U.S. Court of Appeals upheld that law in Blount v. SEC, specifically finding that restrictions on "indirect" contributions by underwriters' family members are constitutional in cases where "(the government contractor) is directing their contributions."

Anti-"pay to play" laws, which stop politicians from kicking back government contracts to campaign donors, have been routinely approved by courts nationwide to advance the public's interest in preventing corruption and the appearance of corruption.

States with such laws already in place: Vermont, New Jersey, Connecticut, West Virginia, South Carolina, Hawaii, and Ohio -- plus Illinois, just last month. Like South Dakota, Alaska and Colorado will decide such laws on the ballot.

Other states have adopted industry-specific bans to stop trading of government contracts for campaign contributions. Michigan, Nebraska, Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Virginia apply such laws to the gaming industry; Delaware and Montana, the insurance industry; Florida, the retail food and insurance industries; and Georgia, public utilities and "all regulated entities."

Measure 10 will empower average citizens to speak without being drowned out by tax-funded lobbyists and tax-financed government contractors.

Everyone knows the Constitution protects every American's free speech, and that no state law or ballot measure can change that. That is why the "No on 10" campaign's television ads are so deceitful. It helps to explain that all those television ads were financed entirely out of state. Liberal NEA union officials in Washington contributed $1.1 million to the "No" campaign, 85 percent of its entire budget.

The majority of that money was collected, by compulsion, from teachers in non-Right to Work states where they can legally be forced to financially contribute to NEA union officials’ political activity as a condition of employment. In layman’s terms, “pay up, or you’re fired.”

The broader off-the-books campaign against Measure 10 is financed with our tax dollars by city, county and school district officials, along with their tax-funded lobbying groups which -- like the NEA’s lobbyists -- also spend our tax dollars lobbying Congress and the legislature for things like gun control and higher taxes.

Compulsory NEA union dues and our own tax dollars are being combined to deceive voters and crush the citizen-led reforms by which Measure 10 would level the playing field for taxpayers.

Measure 10 will end "pay to play" contracts and stop politicians from "laundering" our tax dollars for lobbying and political campaigns. Please vote "Yes," knowing it will simply require state and local politicians to play by the same commonsense, constitutionally-tested ethics already required of our federal officials and in other states.

Rapid City attorney Stephen Wesolick is responsible for drafting Initiated Measure 10 and is legal counsel for South Dakotans for Open and Clean Government, the ballot campaign committee promoting a “yes” vote on the measure.

Radical Liberal Group Contributes $1.1 Million to Oppose Measure 10

For Immediate Release

Pierre, SD - The radical left group, National Education Association contributed $1.1 million to the group opposing the South Dakota Open and Clean Government Act, YES on 10!

You might have seen one of the ads from the No on 10's big lie campaign. South Dakotans should feel comfortable in knowing that each one of their dishonest and desperate "Gag Law" commercials have been refuted as outright lies. YES on 10! will not take away anyone's personal right to speech and their ability to address elected officials, it simply prevents them from using tax dollars to pay for it.

"We now know according to No on 10's campaign spokesman Steve Willard, their big lie 'Gag Law' TV campaign would not have been possible without the funding the radical left, taxpayer subsidized, NEA" said Lee Breard, the Executive Director of the SD CAC.

"The NEA is a taxpayer subsidized organization that collects its dues from state chapters and payroll deduction of educators across the county," said Breard. "The problem is the NEA does not represent the values of many educators. The NEA uses its tax-subsidized funding to promote a radical liberal agenda through campaigning and lobbying."

Here are a few issues the NEA stands for and uses our tax-subsidized dollars to promote:

· Oppose school choice and vouchers
· Promote unlimited abortions
· Supports gay marriage
· Teach 5-8 year olds in the classroom that it is ok to be homosexual,
· Teach 5-8 year olds masturbation is ok
· Thoroughly explaining vaginal intercourse to 5-8 year olds
· Remove parental education rights
· Condoms for students in elementary school
· Radical liberal candidates
· Oppose private accounts for social security
· Support mandatory Pre-K

"I don't believe a majority of the great teachers in South Dakota support these radical issues. It is time to stop their hard earned dues and our tax dollars from being used by radical left groups such as the NEA," said Breard. "Every voter in South Dakota should take pause before buying into the Big Lie "Gag Law" campaign and look at who paid for the advertisement."

Join the majority of South Dakotans who are supporting YES on 10! It is time to stop our tax dollars from being used for lobbying and political campaigns.

The SD CAC is a non-partisan political non-profit organization that focuses on voter education and does not endorse candidates. We support: Efficiency and Accountability in Government, Limiting Government Spending, Comprehensive School Choice, and Private Property Rights.

Vote YES on 10 to stop tax dollars for lobbying

GUEST COLUMN

By Dena Espenscheid
Regional Field Director
Yes on 10 Campaign

Tax-subsidized politicians, lobbyists, government contractors, and union officials who oppose the common sense ethics reform of Initiated Measure 10 have something in common. They all want to keep spending or making money off your tax dollars.

The Secretary of State’s official description of Measure 10: “An initiative to prohibit tax revenues from being used for lobbying or campaigning, to prohibit governmental bodies from lobbying, to prohibit government contractors from making campaign contributions, to prohibit government contracts when the contractor employs a legislator or legislative staff member, and to require contracts with government contractors to be published.”

Voting yes on Initiated Measure 10 stops politicians from using your tax dollars for lobbying or political campaigns.

For example, all 66 counties send local tax dollars to the National Association of Counties, a Washington, D.C. lobbying group. You pay your county taxes. Commissioners use your tax dollars to pay for NACo’s lobbying.

For example, federal gun control. NACo’s 2008 lobbying agenda: "NACo supports the requirement of a reasonable waiting period for purchase of a handgun to allow for a records check, where possible, to ensure the purchaser is not ineligible under existing federal law to possess a handgun.”

Ditto the South Dakota Municipal League, also funded by local tax dollars and in turn a dues-paying member of the National League of Cities, another Washington lobbying group. As are the individual cities of Brookings, Ft. Pierre, Rapid City, and Watertown.

Tax-funded NLC lobbyists also push Congress for federal gun control. NLC Resolution 2008-49: “The National League of Cities calls upon Congress to assist municipalities across the nation in combating crime by taking the following actions: reinstate the ban on semi-automatic assault type weapon sales to civilians.”

If you’re an NRA member, you voluntarily pay dues to help NRA lobby Congress against gun control. Your county commissioners force you to help pay for NACo’s lobbying in favor. City residents pay twice for gun control lobbyists -- through your city taxes, and county.

Speaking of taxes, the tax-funded South Dakota Association of County Commissioners used your tax dollars to launch a ballot campaign to increase alcohol taxes $2.56 a gallon.

The tax-funded SDACC also contributed $45,000 to oppose a ballot measure seeking to repeal the tax on cell phone users.

The tax-funded Municipal League campaigned against a ballot measure to repeal the sales tax on food.

What about your property rights? Last year, Rep. Herseth Sandlin introduced legislation to protect private homes and farms from condemnation by local government officials seeking more tax-lucrative commercial real estate developments.

Agricultural groups supported the bill: “(Our) policy supports efforts by Congress to rectify the potentially negative impacts of the 2005 Kelo court ruling that upheld state and local eminent domain authority to seize private property for commercial economic development purposes."

Tax-funded NACo lobbyists opposed the bill, saying, “NACO is opposed to any effort by Congress to preempt state and local land use authorities.”

The National Association of Townships and Towns’ tax-funded lobbyists also opposed the bill.

Measure 10 opponents complain that if they can’t keep using your tax dollars to fund their lobbying for gun control and higher taxes and against private property rights, you’re “gagging” their free speech. Tell them they have no right to use your money to pay for their speech. Vote Yes on Measure 10.

Ohio Plumber: Obama's Answer on Taxes 'Scared Me Even More'

Neil Cavuto interviewed the plumber whom Barack Obama recently told that he wanted to take this man's wealth and spread it around for him.

In this interview, as amazing as it is, it quickly becomes apparent that this plumber isn't too keen on that notion.

Imagine that: this plumber actually thinks he's entitled to spend the money he earned as he sees fit. Who does he think he is--an American or something?

He has apparently been misled by these selfish types like James Madison who really don't understand what America is all about.

This lowly (perhaps uneducated and unqualified) plumber apparently is not sophisticated enough to realize socialist realities. He doesn't understand that he is not intelligent enough or qualified to know how to spend or allocate his money.

How wonderful it would be to have Barack Obama on hand to help this poor, incompetent plumber run his life.

It's time to go back to basics

BY STAR PARKER
FOUNDER & PRESIDENT
COALITION ON URBAN RENEWAL & EDUCATION

When successful companies fail, when winning teams start to lose, what we're most likely to hear is an announcement from the CEO or the coach about returning to basics.

It's not unusual for success to lead to a loss of focus that indeed there are basics from which it all started. In the language of proverbs, pride precedes the fall.

Undoubtedly, at a time like this, when markets are in chaos and everyone is worried, moralizing is likely to provoke rolling of eyes. But, I think this is exactly the time to think about basics and principles.

The operative question is: If there were a national consensus about the need to return to basics, would there be a consensus about what those basics are?

If we agree that the United States is a great nation, what made it, what makes it, great? Shouldn't this be the question we're asking? Shouldn't we be concerned that no one seems to be asking it? Either there are some fundamentals or it's all a massive stroke of blind luck.

One hundred years ago, government took 10 cents of every dollar. Today, it takes 35 cents of every dollar.

Now we no longer have just government programs. As those government programs fail, instead of getting to the root and getting rid of them, we're creating new government programs on top of them.

Instead of getting back to basics, we're getting farther and farther detached from reality.

I can't help but think of the joke about neurotics building castles in the sky and psychotics moving into them.

It's no joke that we've moved into castles we have built in the sky. Today, even though some of these castles are tumbling to solid ground, it does not seem to be waking up most.

For good reasons, the financial mess we're in is bringing back memories of the 1930s.

Let's recall that we responded to events back then with fundamental changes in how we viewed government. It became less what the founders of the nation intended it to be -- protector of individual life, liberty, and property -- and it became a tool for social policy.

One product was Social Security. This is one of the castles we have built in the sky.

Sure it may take years to build these castles, and then more to realize you're moving into them. But sooner or later, reality sets in.

As we try to stay afloat with the trillions of dollars of debt we now realize we've taken on as result of government housing programs, who is thinking about the $10 trillion unfunded liabilities of Social Security?

Or how about Medicare? Social Security came from the "New Deal." Medicare was a product of President Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society." The unfunded bills staring at us for Medicare piles about another $50-to-$60 trillion on top of the $10 trillion Social Security debt.

How about our fundamental moral collapse over these years? Today, with almost 40 percent of our babies born to unwed mothers, it won't be long before few Americans will even know what growing up in a traditional family means.

Returning to basics in America means remembering what private property, personal responsibility, and traditional values mean.

After the tragedy on Sept. 11, 2001, many got upset with a few evangelical preachers who suggested that the tragedy presented good reason for Americans to check themselves and the moral condition of our society.

America was built on basics. It's time to get back to them if our children and grandchildren are to enjoy what their parents and grandparents had.

Star Parker is president of the Coalition on Urban Renewal & Education and author of the new book White Ghetto: How Middle Class America Reflects Inner City Decay.

Prior to her involvement in social activism, Star Parker was a single welfare mother in Los Angeles, California. After receiving Christ, Star returned to college, received a BS degree in marketing and launched an urban Christian magazine. The 1992 Los Angeles riots destroyed her business, yet served as a springboard for her focus on faith and market-based alternatives to empower the lives of the poor.

Obamas Trillions That YOU Can Pay For

Who's going to pay for Barack Obama's $1 trillion in new government giveaways? Will Obama reach into his wallet to pay for it? Will the rest of his liberal friends on Capitol Hill reach into their wallets and pay for it?

No, YOU, the American taxpayer, will pay for it.

What happened to the enumerated government mandated by the U.S. Constitution? Is the Constitution now just a forgotten old shop rag in the corner?