Thursday, April 30, 2009

Ohio House votes to give Freedom Center $3.1 million operating subsidy



Please contact your Senators immediately to stop this waste of money

Earlier this week, the Ohio House of Representatives passed its version of the 2009-2011 Biennial Budget, and it included $3.1 million in operating subsidy for the failed National Underground Railroad Freedom Center -- $1.55 million per year for the next two years. The subsidy is the most devoted to any museum in Ohio, although the Freedom Center attracts fewer than 62,000 visitors per year – a small fraction of Ohio’s successful museums.

COASTers still have a chance to influence the outcome of this debate by contacting your State Senators NOW, and asking them to support an amendment to strip the wasteful funding from the bill.

When it originally sought Federal, State, County and City subsidy for its $110 million construction cost, Freedom Center executives promised that it would not ever require any operating subsidy. Then, three years ago, Freedom Center CEO John Pepper announced that because the Freedom Center was not meeting its financial and attendance projections, it required millions of tax dollars per year in perpetuity. Since then, multi-millionaire Pepper has greased legislators’ palms to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to start and keep cash flowing to the failing institution. Read here the COAST story on the graft.

When the museum was originally promoted, it promised to bring one million visitors to Cincinnati from all over the world. Today, the Freedom Center attracts fewer than 62,000 paying visitors, and they are mostly children from the area forced to go there on school field trips. These visitors generate near-zero economic activity for the City, because they come and leave on school buses, not stopping to spend additional cash.

Read the COAST story here about the Freedom Center’s 2007 federal income tax return (the most recent available) that showed that the institution generated a mere $827,084 in ticket sale revenue. The Freedom Center originally received $55 million in public subsidy for its construction and has received more than $10 million in infusions of tax cash in just the last 36 months. Read the COAST story here about the Freedom Center’s continued waste of precious resources on over-paid executives.

Please contact your State Senator at the e-mail address (click name to mail) and/or phone number below to ask them to strip Freedom Center funding from the State budget bill.

State SenatorServing:Telephone
Eric KearneyCentral Hamilton County(614) 466-5980
Bill SeitzWest & North Hamilton County(614) 466-8068
Bob Schuler East Hamilton & Warren Counties(614) 466-9737
Tom Niehaus Clermont County(614) 466-8082
Gary Cates Butler County(614) 466-8072
Bill Harris Senate President(614) 466-8086

Your urgent action is needed to stop this shameful and continuing waste of our scarce tax dollars. Please call or write today.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Global Warming: A Lot of Hot Air

Tomorrow AFP’s Hot Air Balloon to Stop in Toledo
Right now in Washington, President Obama and Speaker Pelosi are pushing a Cap and Trade scheme that raises taxes on your gasoline, raises taxes on your home heating and cooling, and kills jobs by the thousands with government rationing of our energy -- all in the name of Al Gore's Global Warming alarmism.

You can fight back -- just like we did with Tea Parties. Bring your family out to Americans for Prosperity’s Hot Air Tour Thursday, April 30th in Toledo at University of Toledo’s Carter Recreational Field at 9:00am as we urge Senator Brown to VOTE NO on the Cap and Trade Scheme. We'll have free food and a giant 70-foot-tall hot air balloon with free rides (weather permitting).

Toledo, Ohio (Register)
9:00am -- Thursday, April 30th
University of Toledo’s Carter Recreational Field (intersection of Oakwood & N. Westwood: map)
The first 50 registrants receive a free t-shirt.


For more information, contact Americans for Prosperity at 202-349-5880.

Be sure to forward this e-mail and encourage folks you know to sign up, including friends from work, family, your college, home school group, political group, and other community associations!
One of the driving forces behind Congressional inaction on the energy issue is global warming alarmism. We are working hard to bring you the missing half of the global warming issue. What will the impact of reactionary legislation be on our national economy, local businesses, and even your personal budget?

Note: Hot air balloon rides are weather and wind permitting.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Constituents, COAST and Cincinnati Tea Party put pressure on Driehaus

Press release issued Thursday:

Following up on the Cincinnati Tea Party on Wednesday, this evening COAST teamed up with the Cincinnati Tea Party to host a tele-town hall designed to reach voters in Ohio's First Congressional District to inform them that Congressman Steve Driehaus is one of only three Congressmen to refuse to disclose this earmark requests to the House Appropriations Committee.

The tele-town hall technology allowed COAST to connect with more than 32,000 households. More than 4,000 voters participated live in a discussion about Driehaus' betrayal of his constituents.

As reported in the Cincinnati Enquirer Monday, a new House rule requires Driehaus to disclose his pork requests. 432 Congressmen did so, but Driehaus was only of only three to flout the new rule and refuse to disclose requests for porkbarrel spending. The rules are intended to increase the transparency of the appropriations process.

The tele-town hall, COAST e-mails and the COAST web site are directing voters to an on-line petition to Driehaus asking that he disclose his earmarks. COAST and the Cincinnati Tea Party also circulated paper petitions to Driehaus at Wednesday's Tea Party. So far, more than 1,200 voters have signed demanding that Driehaus disclose his earmarks. Today, Driehaus continues to refuse to disclose his earmark requests.

Donors may give to the effort to expose Driehaus' pork treachery here.

"COAST and the Cincinnati Tea Party will not stop talking about this issue," said Gloyd, "until Driehaus comes clean with the voters and tells us his earmark requests."

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

COAST and Cincinnati Tea Party Join to Expose Driehaus' Pork

We intend to learn what Steve Driehaus is hiding from

COAST urgently needs your help to expose the latest action of liberal democrat Steve Driehaus in Washington.

Of all the outrages of pork barrel spending in Washington today, one of the most shocking is that of new Cincinnati Congressman Steve Driehaus, who is brazenly breaking the new rule requiring him to disclose his requests for pork to the House Appropriations Committee. (Read Cincinnati Enquirer article on this topic here).

COAST has joined with Mike Wilson and the Cincinnati Tea Party to expose this betrayal by Driehaus in two important activities intended to convince Driehaus to tell his own constituents how he is spending our money in Washington:
  • First, we have created an on-line e-petition to Mr. Driehaus letting him know that we know what he is up to in Washington and that we do not like his games with our money. We demand by this petition that he disclose his earmarks. Click here to sign the petition.

  • Second, we have scheduled a "Tele-Town Hall" for tomorrow night to call every single household in Mr. Driehaus' district to inform them of the duplicity of Mr. Driehaus and to ask these voters to sign the on-line e-petition to Mr. Driehaus. The Tele-Town Hall is a relatively new tool designed to electronically gather citizens in their own homes to inform and motivate them into action. We see it as a perfect tool to educate the district on Driehaus' concealment of his actions in D.C. Click here to donate for this Tele-Town Hall.
Under pressure from voters, Congress recently enacted a new rule requiring all congressmen to clearly display appropriations requests made by their office. Driehaus is one of only three members of the House to fail to comply with these rules that are intended to increase the transparency of the appropriations process.

That's right, in the midst of this spending orgy from Washington, Steve Driehaus is one of only three Congressmen openly thumbing their noses at the public. Instead of disclosing his earmarks, Driehaus has cynically listed all of the requests for funding to his office, including a $515,000 request from the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, a $10 million request from the Metals Affordability Initiative in Connecticut, and a $5 million request from the Water Research Foundation in Colorado. Driehaus' actions say loudly that he does not think his constituents are entitled to learn if he actually made these foolish requests, and others.

We need your urgent help with these projects:
  1. First, please click here and sign the on-line petition to Mr. Driehaus.

  2. Second, click here to make a generous contribution to fund the Virtual Town Hall tomorrow night. Right now, the budget for this project is $3,500. This is a modest sum, but COAST and the Cincinnati Tea Party had not set aside funds for this emergency. So, we had a choice. Either we could ignore Driehaus' betrayal of his own constituents, or we could commit to this undertaking trusting our donors to come to our aid. Because COAST exists for just these moments, we have committed to action.
Addressing this topic, COAST Chairman Jason Gloyd said "clearly, by hiding his activities from his constituents, Congressman Driehaus is thwarting the very transparency in government he claims to champion." In an ironic twist, when you visit Steve Driehaus' website, you cannot find the earmark requests he is required to post, but you can find a video that according to the website shows "Rep. Driehaus pushing for increased openness, efficiency, and accountability in government." Can you say hypocrite?

As Ronald Reagan so eloquently said: "When you can't make them see the light, make them feel the heat." Let's put some heat on Congressman Driehaus. Please help.

Your donation of even $50, $75 or $100 will help us fund this important initiative to expose Steve Driehaus' cynical deception. Please give generously. Click here to donate securely online using any credit card or bank account.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Streetcar: Only $31,997,065 in private funds to go!


Last week COAST reported that no private funds had been raised for the streetcar. We based this report on prior public records requests, and a phone call to the City Budget Director made through a Council staffer 4 days prior to posting. It turns out we were given the wrong information. Explore Cincinnati called us on it, and recontacted the budget director. See summary transcript below.

EXPLORE CINCINNATI to BUDGET DIRECTOR:
I have a question for you regarding the status of Fund No. 455, "Contributions for Streetcar Purposes." Mr. Brad Beckett, Chief of Staff to Councilman Monzel, claims that there is $0 in the Fund. However, various news stories last month reported on several hundred dollars raised for the fund by attendees of a local couple's wedding. There was also money from Duke Energy promised to the Streetcar project. Can you tell me the status of the couple's donation and the Duke donation? Have either of these funds been given to the City at this point, and if so, are they being held in a different account?

BUDGET DIRECTOR to EXPLORE CINCINNATI:
Mr. Beckett asked and I replied as to the balance that I knew about at that time which was at the end of February. Since then there have been $2,935 in actual deposits made. The Duke Energy money is pledged but has not been received yet.
WOW, 12 months to raise $2,935! Clearly this is much more progress than we gave the City credit for. COAST apologizes for the error.

Keep in mind that the original ordinance requires the City Manager to raise $32 million in private funds before the plan can proceed. At this rate, we can break ground for the streetcar in just under eleven thousand years.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Myth: Transit Attracts Development


"If you build it, they will come." Streetcar enthusiasts frequently say that all you have to do is put in public rail transit, and development will magically spring up around it.

Prince Georges County outside of Washington, DC tried that. At great public expense they extended DC's Metrorail system, put in 15 stations, rezoned the surrounding areas for retail & dense housing, offered tax incentives, and waited for the money to start rolling in.

And they waited...and waited...and waited..."Yet, the hoped-for uses and activities in areas surrounding the already-built stations have been slow to materialize." That's putting it kindly.

Now they want to spend even more public money to study the notion of bringing in a pro soccer stadium. They hope it will attract people to use at least one of the empty stations. After the study they propose to spend even more public money to actually build the stadium.

They have created a money-pit, and can't bring themselves to stop digging. Let's not make the same mistake with a Cincinnati streetcar.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Tea Time for Obama’s Budget


Punitive Taxes Target Oil and Gas Companies – Just When we Need them Most

Care for a spot of tea? Some 5,000 Cincinnati residents did recently when they convened in Fountain Square to protest President Obama’s spending and taxation policies.

Its strategy and tactics loosely modeled on those of the original Boston Tea Party, the New American Tea Party Movement, promoted by the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending & Taxes (COAST), is upset about how the Obama administration plans to spend money on stimulus programs and corporate bailouts, while raising taxes to pay for it.

The president’s budget is proof of his heavy-handed approach to taxation. At a whopping $3.6 trillion, the proposed budget has been termed “unsustainable.” It also unfairly targets certain industries for what is nothing short of punishment.

One example is his proposed treatment of the oil and gas industries. In this case, he singles out oil and gas companies for repeal of the Section 199 manufacturers’ deduction. This repeal alone will cost the oil and gas industry $13 billion. No other companies receiving this deduction will lose it under the president’s proposed tax package.

Additionally, the oil and gas companies with their use of our nation’s fossil fuels could create as many as 270,000 jobs during the exploration phase on the Outer Continental Shelf. However, the president’s Interior secretary has slowed development of the OCS five-year plan, drawing to a halt OCS exploration. That puts the oil and gas companies’ infusion of investment capital and the creation of new jobs on hold, thereby slowing our country’s economic recovery. Such action extends our country’s reliance on foreign oil, worsening our energy security and losing out on the potential to create jobs. Compound this with the repeal of the manufacturing tax deduction for these industries, and consumers stand to pay exponentially more to fill our gas tanks and heat our homes.

The president has made it clear he favors new energy technologies, such as renewables like wind and sun. But the ability to make renewables workable, scalable, available and affordable is about 10 years away. The U.S. needs traditional energy sources now as a bridge to the renewable and alternative energy sources the president envisions. His proposed $3.6 trillion budget has little except downside. It costs too much. It spends too much. It borrows too much. And it causes way too much collateral damage along the way.

A spot of tea? Yes, I think I will; please join me. The recent New American Tea Party Cincinnati just hosted was the biggest protest in this city since the Vietnam War. I predict similar records will break all over Ohio – as they should on this issue.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

COAST Hits The Ground With Trolley Petitions This Weekend

“Taking it to the streets”

Volunteer COASTers will be gathering to this Saturday (April 11) to circulate petitions that will force a public vote on City Council’s plans to build a $200 million trolley system serving only three Cincinnati neighborhoods.

Please join us at 2623 Erie Avenue (behind law firm of Finney, Stagnaro) at 10 AM Saturday morning. There, you will receive petition forms and instruction sheets, training on legal requirements for circulation, and meet and join with other enthusiastic COAST volunteers. Ohio residents are legally allowed to circulate, but out-of-state volunteers can join in the fun!

COAST has committed to generate 1,000 trolley petition signatures by the end of April. Read more about the petition drive by logging onto http://www.wedemandavote.com/.

Contact Jason Gloyd at Jason.Gloyd@cbws.com or at 240-4996 for more information.

If you cannot join us this Saturday, plan on joining us at the same time and location on Saturday, April 18 and Saturday, April 25.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Second Cincinnati Tea Party

April 15 at 11:30 AM, Fountain Square
Be there – yeah, it’s really important
More than 5,000 modern-day patriots gather
for first Cincinnati Tea Party March 15

The Cincinnati Tea Party is staging a second, and hopefully even bigger Tea Party rally on Cincinnati’s Fountain Square on Wednesday, April 15 at 11:30 AM. There, ralliers will gather and then march on City Hall to protest the trillion dollars in Congress’ claimed “stimulus” spending.

The rally date coincides, of course, with the federal and state income tax filing deadline and with nationwide rallies on the same date against the liberal democrat spending orgy in Washington.

The tax day tea parties follow up on dozens of tea parties throughout the nation in February and March. The Cincinnati Tea Party held on March 15 attracted more than 5,000 people and was the largest in the nation.

For more information, click here or contact Cincinnati Tea Party organizer Mike Wilson at mike@cincinnatiteaparty.org.

COASTers are encouraged to attend.

Trolley Petition Drive Fires Up

COASTers to collect signatures on April’s weekends


COAST will gather volunteers each Saturday during April to gather signatures on petitions to give voter input on City Council’s $200 million proposal build a trolley system running a 4-mile loop through three neighborhoods. COASTers will gather on Saturdays April 11, 18 and 25 at 10:00 AM at 2623 Erie Avenue and then spread out from there to collect signatures.

In response to City Council’s wasteful and inefficient trolley proposal, the WeDemandAVote.Com coalition, led by the NAACP, has launched a petition drive to force City Council to obtain voter approval before spending money on capital construction costs for such a system. The WeDemandAVote.Com coalition consists of the NAACP, COAST, the Green Party of Ohio and the Libertarian Party of Ohio. It first organized the petition drive against the super-sized jail tax, then organized the petition drive to give voters a choice on red light cameras, and also gave them the choice on proportional representation for City Council elections.

The trolley petition drive presently has only 2,000 of the needed 14,000 total signatures needed to place the issue on the November ballot. COAST has committed to gathering 1,000 signatures during the month of April.

Your help is needed. Contact COAST Chairman Jason Gloyd (240-4996 or Jason.gloyd@cbws.com) for more details on the drive and how you can help. COASTers may also just show up at 2623 Erie and receive forms take instructions from there.

After an entire year, private money raised for trolley: $0

(Goose egg in hand)

In April of last year, Cincinnati City Council passed a plan to implement a $200 million trolley system running over a four mile loop and serving three of Cincinnati’s neighborhoods. That plan was expressly contingent upon Council raising $32 million in funds for the project from private industry. How’s the private fundraising coming?

In August of last year, the City established a separate fund to accept private trolley contributions.

Now after an entire year COAST inquired as to exactly how much the City has raised from private donors. The answer: Zero, zip, nada, zilch. A big goose egg. That’s right, after 365 days of scouring the City for private donations for the pie-in-the-sky dream of a few out-of-touch Council members, not one red cent in private dollars has been raised for the trolley boondoggle.

Councilmember Chris Bortz committed at a meeting of the Blue Chip Young Republicans in April of 2008 that if the City did not raise the private funds, it would abandon the trolley plan. To date, the City has not yet abandoned the foolish plan.

As a reminder, those Council members voting against this profligate waste of money were Council members Monzel and Cranley; voting in favor were Ghiz, Thomas, Qualls, Berding, Bortz, and Crowley.

Read more about the original passage here.

Josh Mandel, Smitherman wow COASTers

April meeting draws 75 as momentum grows

State Rep. Josh Mandel drew a record crowd of 75 COASTers for a membership meeting, hammering the liberal Congress and Governor Strickland for taking our nation and Ohio in the wrong direction. The meeting also featured NAACP Christopher Smitherman launching COAST’s participation in the Cincinnati Trolley Charter Amendment petition drive and Cincinnati Tea Party founder Mike Wilson promoting their April 15 event on Fountain Square.

Representative Mandel represents suburban Cleveland in the Ohio legislature and wowed the crowd with his record of fighting higher taxes and spending in his home town and in Columbus. Mandel is a likely candidate for Ohio Treasurer in 2010.

Also featured at the meeting was NAACP President Christopher Smitherman who rallied COASTers for help in the Trolley petition drive. The NAACP is COAST’s partner in the WeDemandAVote.Com coalition which beat back the Super-Sized Jail Tax in 12007 and fought Red Light Cameras successfully in 2008.



Republican Party Central Committee women Mary Anne Christie and Christa Criddle also spoke and asked COASTers to support the April 14 “Party to the People” rally featuring Ohio GOP Chairman Kevin DeWine.

Red Light Cameras Retreat Throughout Ohio

COAST travels state to advance liberty
COAST and the WeDemandAVote.Com coalition are committed to running red light cameras out of Ohio. So far in 2009, they have made great strides toward this end.

In January, 67 residents of Toledo gathered on a cold Monday night to launch the petition drive to ban red light and speeding cameras in their City. Toledo was the first Ohio City to adopt the pernicious devices. To date, local organizers have gathered 3.000 signatures. A petition drive to repeal red light cameras has also been launched by local organizers in Chillicothe. Organizers in both cities are expected to attain ballot access for this November.

Victories were had without the need for petition drives in Pickerington and Canton where City Councils were convinced to turn away the temptations of increased revenues dangled by red light camera companies, which profit handsomely off of the devices.

In March, Republicans in the Ohio Senate turned down a proposal from the democrat House and liberal democrat Governor Strickland to implement speeding cameras on state highways, starting with construction zones.

Read here and here about the growing Ohio backlash against red light and speeding cameras. COAST still desires to take the fight into Columbus, Cleveland, Akron, Hamilton and Middletown. If you know of local lovers of liberty in these communities who want to organize their community against red light cameras, contact COAST legal counsel Chris Finney at 533-2980 or cfinney@fssp-law.com.

What’s up with the Water Works

Will new City Plan be a massive soaking?

Does Council plan to trickle on taxpayers?

COAST has participated in discussions with a variety of community groups concerned about a plan that purportedly will transfer operations of the water works to a new, semi-private entity. In the process, COAST has been told, water users or taxpayers will be asked to pay a second time for hundreds of millions of dollars of water district improvements that they already own. A Cincinnati City Manager’s report with his recommended course of action is expected at the end of April. Read below an editorial from Josh Krekler, a WeDemandAVote.Com coalition member from the Green Party of Southwest Ohio.

Is Cincinnati Planning a Step Towards Privatizing Our Water?

In October 2007, Cincinnati City Manager Milton Dohoney began exploring the feasibility of transforming the Cincinnati Water Works (CWW) into the Greater Cincinnati Water District. In a memo to the Mayor and City Council dated 10/1/07, Dohoney stated that “There is potential that the development of a Water District would have positive financial implications for the City of Cincinnati. Given our financial challenges looking at other alternatives is clearly warranted.” The working group that’s been conducting the feasibility study is expected to submit its report to City Council (through the City Manager) within the next six weeks. While the details have not been finalized, the plan apparently is to sell CWW to the new Water District for between $300 million and $500 million, which would be paid to the City over several years. This plan, and the relatively little publicity it’s received, raises some troubling questions.
  • How would the Water District be accountable to the people of Cincinnati? The Water District would be a separate public agency governed by an appointed board. It would no longer be directly under the City administration. If sufficient accountability and transparency are not guaranteed, there will be greater opportunities for corruption and decisions that do not serve the public interest.
  • How would the transformation to a Water District guarantee perpetual local control of the water system? A board that isn’t directly accountable to citizens would have much more latitude to pursue selling the water system to a private buyer some time in the future. If they do – and there is no shortage of private water companies eager to take control of municipal systems – a corporate board in a different city or country would be setting local water policies with little input from the residents affected by those policies.
  • How would the Water District generate the revenue to buy CWW from the City? While the advocates of the Water District plan within CWW are anticipating that the new structure would allow them to buy infrastructure and water plants outside their current service area, it would almost certainly be necessary to raise water rates to generate the money needed for the purchase. This is absolutely unacceptable. The City Manager is, effectively, proposing to ask us to pay to buy something that we already own!
Rather than trusting, or simply hoping, that these questions will be resolved in the public’s favor, citizens should ask City Council to reject the proposal. Please call or e-mail all City Councilmembers, tell them you’re concerned about the implications of the plan, and politely ask them not to recommend the creation of the Water District. You may also wish to contact Mayor Mallory and City Manager Dohoney. Fortunately, a citizens’ group called Protect Our Water has formed to educate the public and organize opposition to the plan. Please visit their informative Web site at www.natiprotectourwater.org and spread the word about this questionable proposal to your friends and neighbors.

There is no good reason to sell Cincinnati Water Works. CWW provides high-quality water at reasonable rates. If a separate group is put in charge, service quality could decline, rates will almost definitely go up, and residents who have trouble paying their water bills could find themselves faced with indifferent bureaucratic obstacles to maintaining their access to water. CWW is an efficient public system that pays for itself. More importantly, water is a vital resource, and people should do what they can to make sure their water supplies stay in the control of their local governments.


By Josh Krekler

Schneider Announces for State Senate

Yet another Republican with poor record on taxes and spending

Former State Representative Michelle Schneider has launched her campaign for the Ohio Senate in 2010, seeking to replace State Senator Bob Schuler. Unfortunately, Schneider has a pathetic record on tax and spending issues from her eight years in Columbus.

Schneider won her seat representing northeast Hamilton County and parts of Warren County in 2000 pledging to oppose all tax increases while in the legislature. Well, Schneider was consistent in breaking that pledge, voting 100% of the time in favor of Bob Taft’s many tax increases. These included:
  • Supported a 1 cent increase in the state sales taxes;
  • Supported a 27% increase in the gasoline tax;
  • Supported new taxes on dry cleaning;
  • Supported an entirely new Commercial Activity Tax on Ohio businesses;
  • Supported increased taxes on alcohol and cigarettes.
Schneider also reliably supported wasteful spending while in Columbus, including:
  • Schneider was the champion for funding for the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center (accepting thousands of dollars from the Pepper family for this apostasy);
  • Schneider supported wasteful spending to bring the Olympics to Cincinnati;
  • Schneider supported the wasteful Taft-sponsored Third Frontier initiative;
  • Schneider voted for multiple state budgets increasing spending in the double digits, leading to the serial tax increases she also supported and the budget crises Ohio faces today.
Schneider had one bright spot in her 8-year stint in Columbus, helping COAST to expose the wasteful spending at Drake Center. But this single brave act in nearly a decade does not outweigh her years of breaking her pledge and stabbing southwest Ohio taxpayers in the back.

COAST fervently hopes a better candidate emerges than former Rep. Schneider.

Do a few world leaders actually “get it”?

Czech Premier, EU Parliament member criticizes “new world order” as THE ROAD TO HELL

Thinking the entire world has gone mad and no one appreciates the strength and progress birthed by capitalism? Don’t despair. Read here how the premier of a former communist country warns the world about the western embrace of command economies. He calls the new policy direction “a road to hell.”

And for your viewing pleasure, watch here European Parliament member Daniel Hannon speaking the truth to socialist English Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Absolutely brilliant.

Too bad these folks can’t run for Congress in the USA. And too bad our Congressmen can’t speak as eloquently in the USA as MEP Daniel Hannon. Can you imagine Jean Schmidt thinking this clearly or trying to deliver these lines? Can’t we do better, Cincinnati?

Important Perspectives on Obama’s Budget


Read here and below about important perspectives on the radical change to the US budget and economy that Obama’s budget represents.

Truth About Obama's Budget