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Taxpayers League eUpdate
1. Taxpayers League Live! with David Strom.
2. Happy, happy, joy, joy. The 2007 Minnesota State Fair is back.
3. One reason why House Republicans may not be ready for the Majority yet.
4. A friend of Minnesota taxpayers is about to make a mistake.
5. Want to learn how to organize a grassroots campaign on your own?
1. Taxpayers League Live! with David Strom.
Tune in this Saturday to AM 1280 The Patriot from 9 – 11 am when David will be joined by Amity Shlaes, Lee McGrath and Bob McNamara.
Shlaes, a veteran journalist and economic reporter, will join David during the first hour to talk about her new book, The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression. A book which Amazon.com “Top 1000” reviewer Newt Gingrich (yes, that one) calls, “a remarkable book which will forever change your understanding of the Great Depression, Franklin Delano Roosevelt's role and the lessons to be learned from government intervention. Amity Shlaes makes a compelling case that Hoover and Roosevelt actually lengthened the Depression. They did this, Shlaes argues, by following bad monetary policy, which further deflated the currency, and by raising tariff barriers, which broke up world trade and reduced economic activity everywhere.”
McGrath is the Executive Director of the Institute for Justice Minnesota Chapter and along with McNamara, a staff attorney at IJ HQ, will join David during the second hour to talk about the lawsuit IJ filed against the state of Wisconsin for their minimum gas price mark-up scheme (along the lines of the same useless protectionist racket we have here). For more information on the case specifically, or IJ generally, click here.
2. The mother of all Taxpayers League volunteer opportunities.
You knew it was coming and here it is. The Taxpayers League of Minnesota will once again be shining our light of liberty and freedom in all the dark places of State Fair commerce in the Grandstand. From the hubcap clock hucksters to the relentless nut and fudge ladies. From the last remaining Munchkin from Oz (appearing daily at 9, 11, 1 and 3) to the Grizzly Adams moccasin man, we’ll be there. But to do so we need your help. We need intrepid volunteers like you (and lots of them) with just the right mixture of fidelity in the free market, spit and vinegar. Hand-to-hand combat training isn’t required, but a willingness to introduce the uninitiated to what the Taxpayers League is all about is all we ask. If this sounds like the job for you then reply to this email or give me a call at (651) 294-3590 ext 204 and say, “Mark, I’ve had it up to here with taxes and excessive government regulation. Yes, I will take my place on the ramparts and go toe-to-toe with the seemingly endless number of aging unrepentant liberal hippies who want nothing more than to downsize my car, confiscate my property and feed me a tasteless vegan porridge of soy and cardboard. I will not go quietly into the night. I will volunteer at the Taxpayers League booth and I will tell three of my friends to do the same. Sign me up.”
As always, we provide free tickets to the Fair (and if you work a morning shift with me, mini donuts for breakfast).
3. Of course it’s Don Young’s fault.
From the Crypt’s Blog at Politico.com (no, not the Crips – though political commentary from L.A. gangsters might be kind of funny):
“Rep. Don Young [R-Alaska] attacked his fellow Republicans on the House floor Wednesday, as he defended education funds allocated to his home state of Alaska. ‘You want my money, my money,’ Young stridently declared before warning conservatives that ‘those who bite me will be bitten back.’ Young took extreme exception to an amendment by Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.) to strike money in a spending bill for native Alaskan and Hawaiian educational programs. During his brief tirade Wednesday, Young suggested Republicans lost their majority because Garrett, whom he did not specifically name, and others had challenged spending during the GOP's tenure. And lest we forget, Young, who used to chair the House Transportation Committee, is responsible for the so-called ‘Bridge to Nowhere,’ a proposed span connecting Ketchikan, Alaska, with the tiny island of Gravina that would have cost $315 million -- and eventually came to symbolize profligate spending under Republican rule.”
4. A conservative vote is a terrible thing to waste, don’t you think Sen. Coleman?
Last month I mentioned that Senators Coleman and Klobuchar voted to support $32 billion in new energy taxes as part of a comprehensive Senate Energy bill (while the “yes” votes were certainly bad, the bill went down so no harm, no foul). Now it appears that Senate leadership will try again to pass this massive tax package which calls for taxing oil companies to subsidize alternative energy producers. If Congress is able to pass a new round of energy taxes prices for gasoline, home heating oil and all consumer goods will increase. And because we’re all good economic students we know that when costs to businesses increase, costs to consumers will increase. Plus, other businesses may cut jobs or simply close up shop because of the added expense. Aside from increased costs for you and me, higher energy taxes will have another immediate result; less will be invested in exploration and production (and because Congress already hampers E&P as is, we get situations like last week’s gas price spike because ONE!?! refinery in Kansas got flooded – that’s how tight production is). But most significantly, if we’re not doing the E&P work here we’re going to have to increase the amount of oil and gas we get from overseas – thereby increasing our reliance on foreign producers.
Minnesotans who care about energy prices still have time to contact Senator Coleman. Click here and send him an email urging him to vote against new taxes on energy.
5. On August 2nd and 3rd, a one-of-a-kind opportunity from the Leadership Institute.
Perhaps you’ve got a bond referendum coming up in the fall that you want to educate your friends and neighbors about. Or maybe you’ve taken it upon yourself to arm the peasantry with the proper torches and pitchforks because City Hall is raising your property taxes with impunity. Whatever the case may be, grassroots activism is essential for any organization’s effectiveness in the political world. It is the winning art of taking the issues and campaigns back to the individuals, helping them to realize the power they can possess in public policy. Whether you or your organization is trying to get an issue to the forefront or gain attention in your community, the Grassroots Activist School will make you more effective. Best of all, this amazing training comes right to you. The Leadership Institute proudly provides top-notch activist training right in your community from some of the nation’s most effective organizers and consultants. You will learn get-out-the-vote (GOTV), volunteer recruitment and organization, targeting voters and activists, handling negative information, voter contact door-to-door and voter contact by phones. This school is being held Thursday and Friday, August 2 and 3 at the Hyatt Regency in Minneapolis. For more information about this school contact Robert Arnakis at rarnakis [at] limail [dot] us or (703) 247-2000. A small number of discounted tuition rates may still be available by clicking here.
The Taxpayers League of Minnesota's E Update is written by Mark Giga
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