24thState

9/12 Under the Arch

Everything is coming together for the 9/12 Tea Party Under the Arch.  Join us for the "Gateway to November" event. 

h/t Reboot Congress

A Statistic To Take Pride In

A leftwing organization, a red-green coalition group (its allies explain) has rated St. Louis highly on its fiscal restraint.

Aw, who am I kidding?  It's brought some scourges so the right minded people can self-flagellate that St. Louis is not spending as profligately as everyone else:

Nobody had to tell St. Louis-area transit riders how bad things got for public transportation in recent years.

But dead last?

A new study released today by the Transportation Equity Network showed St. Louis ranked 20th out of 20 metro areas for the percentage of transportation spending dedicated to transit.

This just in: St. Louis is a sprawling Midwest city with thousands of miles of roads.  Transit is not a very good solution for St. Louis.

But then again, my livelihood does not depend upon working within a grassroots network of more than 350 community organizations in 41 states working to build a more just, prosperous, and connected America and to ensure that tax money goes to the right people.  

She Who Must Not Be Named

Some decisions in Jefferson City are made by the trappings of the offices, not the officeholders, I guess.

A judge on Tuesday ordered a real estate tax initiative to appear on Missouri's November ballot, concluding the measure's supporters submitted enough valid signatures from voters.

Earlier this month the Missouri secretary of state's office concluded that too few signatures were submitted for the initiative to appear. Cole County Circuit Judge Paul Wilson effectively overruled that and ordered election officials to place the measure on the ballot.

The article does not mention the name of the current Secretary of State.  Her name is Robin Carnahan, and she is currently running for United States Senate.  Maybe the Associated Press didn't want to explicitly tie Secretary of State Robin Carnahan to an attempt to block a citizen ballot initiative to limit taxes in an election year.

I don't mind doing it at all.  And I don't mind reminding you of other ballot initiatives being thrown out on technicalities when they don't adhere to the Democratic Party platform.

The Regulatory State Of Mind & The Choices It Chooses - Part II

Hold on tight. To your Rights... and not your parrrty!
In digging into this sort of thing, regulations, where they come from and why, it's tempting to go off into which big businesses contributed most to which political party, the left or the right. But despite appearances, this really isn't a Left/Right issue. Sure the left is typically more enthusiastic for more and new regulations and controls, but there have been so many little 'r' republicans from Teddy Roosevelt to Richard Nixon to John McCain, and most points in between, as to make the 'Party' question irrelevant. It's not a political party issue, it's a philosophical issue, constitutionally limited government, or proregressivism, and the later choice is made in both parties.

  

More practically speaking, it's a 'have power & seeking influence' vs 'have wealth & seeking advantage' issue, combined with an easy familiarity with political expediency over constitutional principles, and sad to say it abounds on all sides of the aisle, they unite collegially under the amorphous umbrella of 'Doing Good!', especially among those who see no problem with government mingling with business. What they both demonstrate above all, is an utter absence of understanding of what this nation desperately depends upon -and which is no longer taught - the importance of property rights.

Intentionally or not, what these do gooder's are doing, is voluntarily creating what amounts to a series of nice comfy house slave positions for themselves and not a few lesser slots in the kitchen for the rest of us, wherein they promise that none of us will need to worry or strive in any way in order to meet our 'needs' again, our wise regulatory masters will do it all for us. Rather than a simple old plantation owner, our masters today are to be a set of regulations, administered by regulators and represented by elected officials who are influenced by those who can afford them or help them to look good (and if you think I'm exaggerating, hold that thought for a bit).

 

And, of course, we don't have to worry about any slave driver's... no, today that function is to be taken over by friendly folks like the I.R.S.

 

Isn't that a relief?

More On The Tea Party's Long Stroll

Over at ChicagoBoyz, blogger Lexington Green says he sees what Glenn Beck is doing:

Beck is building solidarity and cultural confidence in America, its Constitution, its military heritage, its freedom. This is a vision that is despised by the people who have long held the commanding heights of the culture. But is obviously alive and kicking.

Beck is creating positive themes of unity and patriotism and freedom and independence which are above mere political or policy choices, but not irrelevant to them. Political and policy choices rest on a foundation of philosophy, culture, self-image, ideals, religion. Change the foundation, and the rest will flow from that. Defeat the enemy on that plane, and any merely tactical defeat will always be reversible.

Beck is unabashed that God can be invoked in public places by citizens, who vote and assemble and speak and freely exercise their religion. They are supposed to be too browbeaten to do this. Gathering hundreds of thousands of them to peaceably assemble shows they are not. But showing that the people who believe in God and practice their religion are fellow-citizens who share political and economic values with majorities of Americans is a critical step. The idea that these people are an American Taliban is laughable, but showing that fact to the world — and to potential political allies who are not religious — is critical.

Beck is attacking the enemy at the foundations of their power, their claim to race as a permanent trump card, their claim to the Civil Rights movement as a permanent model to constantly be transforming a perpetually unjust society.

That's why the Tea Party people and like-minded people who want to remake the Republican Party need to soldier on beyond setbacks in individual primaries and individual elections.  This is not a video game, where you defeat the Level Boss and go onto the next level.  Sometimes, you lose to the Level Boss and sometimes to the next Level Boss, but you have to play the level again from the save point and try again.

Maybe it is like a video game.  I wouldn't be the first to use that metaphor.

(Link to ChicagoBoyz seen on Instapundit.)

Why Arnold's City Council Doesn't Want You Involved.

Glenn Beck had a great monologue a few months ago about political games that are played:

 

It seems that local politicians in Arnold are calling plays right out of the Obama playbook.  Two weeks ago, City Councilman Paul Freese proposed a subsidizedfree trash ordinance to save the poor citizens of Arnold 7 dollars a month on their municipal utility bills.  Freese campaigned for "Free Trash" earlier this year, even going so far as to add the slogan to his campaign signs.  Freese was City Treasurer from 2008 until this year, the same time the City of Arnold incurred a 1.5 million dollar budget deficit due to out-of-control spending and lack of the expected sales tax and red light camera revenue.  He should understand the reasoning behind the City having to charge for trash service in order to balance the budget. 

Maybe that's why Mr. Freese waited until AFTER the budget discussion at the last City Council meeting to try and ram his free trash ordinance through in the "New Business" section of the meeting...without the public having a chance to express their opinion.  Freese was convinced that the City and it's estimated $4 million in reserves was "doing pretty good" and could support the estimated $500,000 it would take to offset the loss of trash fee revenue.  Councilman Bob Lindsley was a voice of reason that night, stating that other cities charge $25-35 a month in trash fees, and that residents in Arnold are getting a pretty good deal. Councilman Jason Connell echoed this belief as well.  Still, Freese pushed forward with a motion, and even had Councilman Jim Edwards second it before common sense returned and Interim City Attorney Frank Vatterott informed them that voting on an ordinance that is not on the agenda is illegal. 

So now, instead of waiting for the work session meeting on September 9th, Freese is once again trying to ram it through this Thursday, September 2nd when it is on the agenda along with 9 other ordinances and resolutions.

So what is the real reason behind all of this?  Remember the Glenn Beck clip above, where he shows that politicians in Washington are clogging the system in order to hide their real agenda?

Lost in the shenanigans two weeks ago was a comment made by Ward 2 Councilman and local sign-installer Bill Moritz.  Moritz asked City Administrator Unrein to look into adopting Rosenberg's Rules of Order instead of the much-used Robert's Rules of Order for Arnold's City Council Meetings.  In case you are not familiar with it, Rosenberg's is the self-described "Simple parliamentary procedures for the 21st Century". It goes into detail, saying "the rules must be simple enough that citizens feel they have been able to participate in the process." and "In a democracy, the majority rules. The rules must enable the majority to express itself and fashion a result".  Also quite alarming is the lack of checks and balances.  It seeks to lessen the role of the "chair" (mayor) by saying "the chairperson should take a back seat in the discussion". Much of this language reeks of progressivism.  Of course, anything endorsed by SEIU can't be that bad, right?

So why would Moritz and others want to change the way City Council meetings are conducted?

Power and control.

You see, for a while, the wheels have been rolling on a plan to have the red light camera contract with ATS renewed in December 2010.  The cameras are very profitable for ATS, and ATS has funneled thousands of dollars into Arnold's City Council elections through third-party sources for the past few years.  Whether it's the Jeffco Labor PAC, Jackie Etling (business associate of Joyce Aboussie) or Jane Dueker and Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP (the lawyers for ATS), Arnold's politicians have been bought and paid for for a while now.  Their plan was almost derailed last year with the death of longtime Arnold public figure Al Ems.  Replacing Ems was Karl Shoenbeck, which gave the council enough votes against ATS' cash cow to keep them out of business after the original contract expired.  That's why ATS funneled money to the Political Action Committee Citizens for a Better Arnold, which in turn spent over $17,000 in opposition to former Councilmen Matt Hay, Jerel Poor and the aforementioned Shoenbeck. 

In May, Councilman Randy Crisler sponsored an ordinance to remove the authority to fire the City Attorney from the Mayor and give it to the Council.  Subsequently, two months later, the Council would do just that by firing Dennis Tesreau.  It was odd at the time considering Tesreau was charging half of what previous City Attorney Bob Sweeney was.  And now, Mr Moritz wants to change the rules of Council meetings to something less strict. And if there is one thing history has shown us, it's that if you give politicians an inch to bend the rules, they will take a mile.

Most of the pieces are in place to assure ATS gets their contract renewed. 

They have a Council that is bought and paid for.

If approved, they will have a procedural system in place to end debate and pass an ordinance without a majority (under Rosenberg's Rules of Order, a quorum can be whatever the Council decides).

Now all they need is a City Attorney that will give them a favorable opinion of Arnold's Red Light Camera ordinance so they will not be personally sued if they defy a legal opinion and vote for an illegal and unconstitutional method of law enforcement.  Jim Edwards has publicly asked for Sweeney to be the choice for Attorney.  This is after Sweeney publicly campaigned for Edwards, which on the surface appears to be unethical and illegal. 

Make no mistake - while they are making you look at the left hand (free trash, iPads, etc.) the other hand is methodically putting the pieces in place to bring back a camera system that is illegal, unconstitutional, and something people do not want in their town.  All in order to pay back the special-interests that helped them get elected.

All politics are local.  And the only way to ensure that your voice is heard is to speak up.  The next City Council meeting is September 2nd at 7 pm. Please attend the meeting and speak out against this special-interest takeover of Arnold.  Edmund Burke once said, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing".  It's time we all start to do something.

 

 

 

So Much For The Myth of Poverty

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch provides a handy database that has teacher and school salaries for most of, if not all of, Missouri.

Back in the old Northwest R-1 district from which I graduated (and when answering the question of where I went to high school in the St. Louis area, I balled my fists and asked in return, "Is that a problem?"), it looks that teachers start out at $31,000 out of school and top out around $76,000 with a very nice spread of people earning above the national median salary for nine months of work.

Oh, yeah, I know how hard those teachers work in those nine months.  A little harder than many of the people I know work all year round to keep equivalent or lower salaries.

Review the tool and make your own judgments.  Refute me if I'm wrong.

At-Risk Veterans Fail to Get Support from Ethereal Carnahan

Not sure what Russ Carnahan does in his spare time other than pretend like he is a gun enthusiast, spend stimulus money outside his congressional district, or fail to live up to Dick Gephardt's legacy.

Carnahan claimed he would do everything in his power to help the veterans of John Cochran VA Hospital that may have been exposed to viral infections such as hepatitis C and HIV. It's not like he's been campaigning.  Early last week, Carnahan met with some of those veterans he promised to help. 

"Local Organization" Often Means Laundered Federal Money

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is running a story today about a local organization that's paying the parents money if their kids go to school.

It starts with a telling anecdote about how this particular system might be abused:

Stacey Wright had more than a dozen choices when it came to enrolling three of her children in an elementary school, from charters to magnets to traditional public schools in every corner of the city.

She chose Jefferson Elementary School, the brick St. Louis public school across the street. And for that, she may get $900.

For the first time, a local organization is offering parents a cash incentive to enroll their children at Jefferson. The money is limited to students who didn't attend the school last year. To get it, the kids must finish this semester with near-perfect attendance and receive no out-of-school suspensions; the parent must attend three PTO meetings. The program is being offered to families in three mixed-income housing complexes surrounding the school, where most of the students live.

Wright, an in-home caregiver, recently moved with her children to north St. Louis from Oxford, Miss. She's eager to get involved at Jefferson, located at Hogan and O'Fallon streets.

In this instance, it's not going to parents whose children didn't go to the schools because the children were truant or the parents were inattentive; it's going to recent area arrivals who might have done the right thing without the incentive.

Ah, well, it's the local organization's money, right?

At Jefferson Elementary, the $300 incentive per child is offered by Urban Strategies, a nonprofit organization based in St. Louis. For years, it has partnered with McCormack Baron Ragan Management, the development company that manages Murphy Park, The Brewery and O'Fallon, the three housing complexes surrounding the school.

Here's an (old) snapshot of how Urban Strategies, Inc., got its money a couple years ago:

Revenue, Expenses, and Changes in Net Assets or Fund Balances
	2003	2004	2005
Total revenue	$4,152,878	$2,458,762	$3,622,324
Contributions, gifts, grants, and similar amounts received	$2,991,797	$1,042,377	$1,580,379
Contributions to donor advised funds
Direct public support	$1,736,200	$1,042,377	$1,580,379
Indirect public support	$34,479	$0	$0
Government contributions (grants)	$1,221,118	$0	$0
Program service revenue including government fees and contracts	$1,109,276	$1,321,542	$1,381,575

(Table truncated for space purposes, not especially for cherry-picking facts to make my case.)

A more recent headline: Urban Strategies wins $1M in stimulus

That's not a charitable organization; that's a government front operation.

Congratulations, taxpayer (and by 'taxpayer,' I mean Treasury bond buyer).  You're paying students $300 to go to school, and you don't know it. 

Epictetus on Showing Washington Its Place

Discourses, Book 1, Chapter 19.

How we should behave to tyrants

If a man possesses any superiority, or thinks that he does, when he does not, such a man, if he is uninstructed, will of necessity be puffed up through it. For instance, the tyrant says, "I am master of all." And what can you do for me? Can you give me desire which shall have no hindrance? How can you? Have you the infallible power of avoiding what you would avoid? Have you the power of moving toward an object without error? And how do you possess this power? Come, when you are in a ship, do you trust to yourself or to the helmsman? And when you are in a chariot, to whom do you trust but to the driver? And how is it in all other arts? Just the same. In what then lies your power? "All men pay respect to me." Well, I also pay respect to my platter, and I wash it and wipe it; and for the sake of my oil flask, I drive a peg into the wall. Well then, are these things superior to me? No, but they supply some of my wants, and for this reason I take care of them. Well, do I not attend to my ass? Do I not wash his feet? Do I not clean him? Do you not know that every man has regard to himself, and to you just the same as he has regard to his ass? For who has regard to you as a man? Show me. Who wishes to become like you? Who imitates you, as he imitates Socrates? "But I can cut off your head." You say right. I had forgotten that I must have regard to you, as I would to a fever and the bile, and raise an altar to you, as there is at Rome an altar to fever.