We Are Not Free: Politicians and their fear of the free man

In light of Arizona politicians refusing to uphold the freedom of the individual mandate found in the Arizona constitution I thought it appropriate to explore this a bit further.
Arizona's constitutions says the following:
Article II.
Section 1. A frequent recurrence to fundamental principles is essential to the security of
individual rights and the perpetuity of free government.
Section 2. All political power is inherent in the people, and governments derive their 
just powers from the consent of the governed, and are established to protect and maintain
individual rights.


It seems to find an honest politician is very rare as they seek power and not the defense of liberty.  This story goes into how an Idaho politician has been berated by the system and his "fellow republicans" for not upholding the power of the state.

The Plunderbund's Persecution of Phil Hart
Rep. Hart's actual offense was not withholding payment of taxes, but rather refusing to surrender to the IRS the names and contact information of the thousands of people who purchased his self-published book Constitutional Income: Do You Have Any?, a detailed, scholarly examination of the history of the federal income tax.  


"I read your book `Constitutional Income: Do You Have Any?'" Hart was notified in a letter from IRS agent Barbara Parks announcing that the state-sponsored terrorist clique employing her was beginning an "investigation" of the book. The purpose of that inquiry, she continued, was "to determine whether or not your statements are commercial speech and whether this activity causes harm to the government."

With the help of the Center for Individual Rights, Hart successfully sued the IRS to interdict the agency's demand that he turn over the names of everybody who had purchased his book. Four years later, the IRS retaliated against Hart by issuing a final audit report denying all of his business deductions for eight years, hitting him with an additional tax liability of roughly $125,000.

Already under siege by the world's most despicable terrorist syndicate (no, not al-Qaeda -- the IRS), Hart now has to contend with spurious charges of seeking "special treatment" and "financial gain." Yet state Rep. Ken Roberts remains secure within the Idaho Republican Party in spite of the fact, recently disclosed by the Lewiston Tribune, that Roberts has received nearly $370,000 in farm subsidies since 1995.

Roberts, who ritualistically reviles subsidies directed at others, insists that when he's on the receiving end of plunder he's not redistributing wealth, but rather "recycling wealth." Predictably, nobody in the state Republican leadership has proposed that Roberts be subjected to an ethics inquiry.

My thoughts: Typical of politicians.  They have no moral grounding.

AZ News & Blogs 6/19/2010

• Arizona Immigration Law = National ID for Arizonans 
• Despite protestations to the contrary from the law’s sponsor and others, this law turns the Arizona drivers license  (actually any state license) into a national id.
• It’s a common misconception to believe that the national id must be a card or a chip.
• National ID not a card or a chip, but is the data that the federal government has on you.  What the federal government has been attempting to do for many years, most notably under the Clinton administration, was to find a way to integrate all of the various data they have on American citizens into an easily searchable, easily sharable database and data exchange format.
• My thoughts:  Ernest Hancock has been talking about this for quite some time.
• But They Are Politicians 
• Jacob Sullum writes about the gnashing of teeth among Arizona politicians that suddenly must rely on voluntary contributions rather than campaign funds taken by force from taxpayers who may not even support them.
• But if they were reasonable people who considered long-term consequences and took responsibility for their own actions, would they even be politicians.  Is it any surprise that a class of human beings who, in response to looming bankruptcy in Medicare, pass a trillion dollars of new health care spending commitments closed their eyes to what would likely happen when this campaign finance law reached the Supreme Court?
• Court premature in stopping matching funds 
• My thoughts:  Well, the coyote blog said it best.
• Primary Election Debate Videos 
• Republican Candidates for Governor 
• Uptick in Violence Forces Closing of Parkland Along Mexico Border to Americans 
• Lawmaker Warns Parks Takeover by Mexican Cartels, Illegals 'Intensifying' 
• My thoughts:  More reason to resolve the core issues: legalize drugs, get rid of NAFTA, etc.
• Ernest Hancock interviews Nick Dranias of Goldwater Institute on Clean Elections 
• My thoughts:  This is really good.  Don't miss listening to it.
• Ernest Hancock talks on local politics (Mesa) 

AZ News & Blogs 6/9/2010

• U.S. Supreme Court Blocks Release of Campaign Matching Funds 
• In a major victory for free speech, the U.S. Supreme Court this morning blocked the use of taxpayer money as campaign "matching funds." The Court will decide whether to review a ruling from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
• Cato Institute Reactions 
• When taxpayers underwrite the campaign expenses of candidates for public office, serious questions arise: Not least, why should taxpayers subsidize candidates or ideas they oppose? But when taxpayers subsidize only one side in a campaign, there should be outrage. Perhaps there was at the Supreme Court this morning, when the Court blocked an appalling opinion out of, not surprisingly, the oft-overturned Ninth Circuit.
• Coyote Blog Reactions 
• I find many of the uses politicians make of the money they take from me to be irritating.  But perhaps the worst of them all is to use my money to fund their own election campaigns when they can’t get enough people to voluntarily contribute.  Which is why I am happy to see the Supreme Court put a injunction on Arizona’s politicians take tax money to re-elect themselves law.
• Why We Need Fewer Public School Jobs, Not More 
• The first [of two charts] shows that employment has grown 10 times faster than enrollment over the past 40 years.  The second chart shows how the total cost of sending a single child through the public school system has changed over the years, along with trends in student achievement.

AZ News & Blogs 5/29/2010

• Immigration Law — Up Close 
• The police are going to ask questions and request to see papers in a variety of circumstances — whether they have reasonable suspicion or not.  From a legal, constitutional, and practical perspective, the key issue is this: What are the consequences, if any, for the person who stands his ground and declines to answer questions or declines to produce identification papers?  If a person declines, will the police back off and say, “Well, that is your right, sir, you may go” or will the police escalate the situation by ordering the person to answer questions, ordering the production of identification, detaining the person, or threaten the person with arrest on bogus charges?
• The police are trained to blur the line between “voluntary” interactions with people (perfectly lawful) and “involuntary” interactions with people (where police power is limited by the Constitution)....
• Man gets by check point without having to give them what they want.  As opposed to this incident .
• Quelland’s bills against Clean Elections went nowhere 
• A package of bills sponsored by Rep. Doug Quelland reads like a list of grievances against the Clean Elections system he’s fought for the past two years.
• Quelland sponsored only six bills in the 2010 legislative session, five of which were intended to expand the rights of candidates accused of violating Clean Elections laws. 
• All five of the bills failed to receive a committee hearing, but they left little doubt about the Phoenix Republican’s feelings about the Clean Elections system that once helped him get elected and later called for his removal from office.
• US warns AZ on park closures; could lose funds 
• In addition to loss of federal funds, park closures will bring a host of liability and public safety problems due to the state’s inability to secure park lands from spreading wildfires, drug cultivation, violent crimes and injuries.... “Even California has learned that closing state parks is the epitome of a penny-wise-pound-foolish economy."
• My thoughts:  Goldwater Institute has told us before the state can privatize it and make money on the venture...too bad they don't listen.
• See also: Private companies can manage state parks , New tax for state parks would entrench wrong approach to funding , and Look for a business partner to fund state parks.