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TABOR and Direct Democracy: An Essay on the End of the Republic - Thom Hartmann's "Independent Thinker" Book of the Month Review

Submitted by BuzzFlash on Fri, 08/11/2006 - 10:08am.

TABOR and Direct Democracy: An Essay on the End of the Republic
by Bradley J. Young

THOM HARTMANN'S "INDEPENDENT THINKER" BOOK OF THE MONTH REVIEW

TABOR and Direct DemocracyThere is a group of people -- who often refer to themselves as "conservatives" -- who are not only committed to the destruction of our republic, but actively (and successfully) crippling governments all over this nation. Their main weapon is "direct democracy" -- the initiative system by which citizens can get measures on a ballot and bypass legislators -- and a series of seemingly commonsense citizen-promoted limitations on the growth of government.

The initiative process was mostly written into the constitutions of several dozen states largely as part of the progressive and populist backlash against entrenched and corrupt political machines in the Reconstruction Era following the Civil War. The idea was that if legislators refused to follow the will of the public because they'd been bought off or co-opted by the Robber Barons or other "special interests," citizens could take things into their own hands. In some recent cases -- most notably medical marijuana and Oregon's "right to die with dignity" -- the system has worked pretty well in the face of spineless legislators.

But with the so-called "taxpayers bill of rights" or TABOR, the Grover Norquist-types of the world who think government should be destroyed, in large part, and replaced by a corporate aristocracy running everything from our schools to our power systems, have found a tool to fool citizens into building self-destruct mechanisms into representative democracy.

The main means by which this is done is a "ratchet" system that requires government to return budget surpluses to taxpayers annually, wiping out rainy day funds and other ways for government to deal with economic downturns, and limits the growth of government revenues to the sum of population growth and inflation.

Population growth plus inflation sounds reasonable, right? But GDP almost always (other than during severe recessions) increases more than the simplistic formula of population plus inflation. There's also the fact that productivity increases -- the very core of business growth -- and so the size of economies grow in real terms significantly faster than population plus inflation. Along with them, come the added needs for government -- roads, police, schools, etc.

But TABOR and other "tax limiting" measures prevent government from growing to meet the needs of it citizens -- instead actually shrinking government, and, because of the "ratchet" system, not letting it catch up when times are good. Schools deteriorate, roads disintegrate, and the social safety net goes from frayed to moth-eaten to gossamer. Eventually, conservatives will be able to say, "See? The schools are broken and should be replaced by a corporate system! Same for our roads -- let's sell them off to French toll-road companies! And private charity, through faith-based systems administered by Bush, will replace our secular social services systems!"

The mechanics of all this are brilliantly laid out in this handy, readable, accessible little booklet -- "TABOR and Direct Democracy." It also shows how direct democracy is a far more vulnerable system to wealthy and powerful special interests who can buy campaign advertisements to fool the average voter in ways that professional politicians would see through in a moment.

The Republic of The United States is very much under assault, mostly at a state-by-state level. This shock, informative, and powerful book is an absolute must-read for every citizen and -- more importantly -- every voter. You'll find it a critical addition to your library, and will probably want to get several copies (they're cheap and pocket-sized) to share with others. Mostly under the radar-screen, TABOR and its variations may well accomplish what the Robber Barons only dreamed of -- the final and ultimate destruction of representative democracy in the USA, replaced by a corporate elite in all parts of our lives.

THOM HARTMANN'S "INDEPENDENT THINKER" BOOK OF THE MONTH REVIEW

Get your copy from BuzzFlash's Progressive Marketplace.

* * *

Thom Hartmann (thom at thomhartmann.com) is a Project Censored Award-winning best-selling author, and host of a nationally syndicated daily progressive talk show and a morning progressive talk show on KPOJ in Portland, Oregon. www.thomhartmann.com His most recent books are "The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight," "Unequal Protection," "We The People," "The Edison Gene", and "What Would Jefferson Do?
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A new way of citizen initiatiated direct democracy right here.

Submitted by www.dmocrats.org on Sun, 08/13/2006 - 2:04pm.
Join the Liberal Democratic Party of the United States of America.

http://www.dmocrats.org where you can petition the donors of the Republican party.

We can form one large buyers union where we go on a purchasing strike against the donors of the Republican party that make and sell consumer products and then make demands of progressive legislation of these donor companies and they will lose our hard earned money until they get the Republican party to enact our legislative demands.

The Republican party appears weak and vulnerable at the cash registers of the companies that donate money to them.

Did you send the party platform to the companies and the government officials?
 yes
 no, but I will do that now.
 no.
  


Who do you plan to support for president in 2008?
 Al Gore
 John Edwards
 John Kerry
 John Warner
 Evan Bayh
 Russ Feingold
 Barack Obama
 Joe Biden
 Hillary Clinton
 Wes Clark
  


The REPUBLICAN Party appears weak and vulnerable at the cash registers of the companies that donate money to them.

IF EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU CAN GET JUST 10 OF YOUR FRIENDS TO JOIN THIS PARTY WE WILL HAVE 40,000 PARTY MEMBERS SOON. THANK YOU.

Welcome to the 21st century Boston Tea Party. During the revolution to get our independence from Britain we boycotted British products. Today we want to force the Republican Party government to enact legislation we need enacted. We will boycott Republican Party products. We will not throw products into the harbor but we will call the companies that make the products and demand the legislation we need and force them to go to the Republican Party and get it for us or they lose alot of money, our hard earned money.

AMERICA, PLEASE JOIN US IN ONE OF THE BIGGEST PURCHASING STRIKES AGAINST THE COMPANIES THAT GIVE MONEY TO THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IN ORDER TO PERSUADE THE CEOs OF THESE COMPANIES TO GET US THE PROGRESSIVE LIBERAL LEGISLATION THAT WE NEED IN THIS COUNTRY. SEND THE BLUE TEXT TO THE COMPANIES LISTED BELOW BY CLICKING ON THEIR MAIL LINKS. THANK YOU. TELL EVERYONE OF YOUR FRIENDS TO JOIN THIS GROUP AND TO SEND THE PARTY PLATFORM TO THE COMPANIES BELOW. THANK YOU.

Illinois residents: Call the Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert's office in Batavia, Illinois at 630-406-1114. Get everyone of your friends, coworkers and everyone you meet to call Speaker Hastert's District office in Batavia, Illinois. Tell him to pass unamended legislation to increase the minimum wage to TEN DOLLARS AN HOUR or you will boycott products from Republican contributors Dell Computers, Walmart, Wendy's, Outback Steak House, Dominos Pizza, Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Eckerd, CVS and Walgreens, Curves for women health clubs, General Electric and Exxon/Mobil in his congressional district.

URGENT: I just found out recently that 3 years ago when the Republicans forced through this Medicare Law they slipped in means testing of Medicare Part B! This gives you more reason to have the Medicare Law repealed. Demand the repeal of the means testing of Medicare Part B that will occur in 2007. The Social Security administration also plans to increase the premium for Medicare Part B to 98 dollars a month. Call for the roll back of this premium to 78 dollars. Tell the Republicans to cancel the tax cuts for the wealthy and they will then can afford to only take 78 dollars a month from people who need Medicare Part B.

Call the Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert's office in Batavia, Illinois at 630-406-1114. Get everyone of your friends, coworkers and everyone you meet to call Speaker Hastert's District office in Batavia, Illinois. Tell him to get the repeal of HR 1/S 1 of 2003 the so called Medicare Modernization act which created Medicare Part D the meager faulty prescription drug discount with a means test in 2006 also includes a means testing of the doctors visit benefit in Medicare Part B in 2007 ( yes part B! ) and demand he get congress and the president to enact a simple prescription drug benefit of 80 percent coverage in medicare part B with no extra premiums, deductibles, means tests, no coverage gap and no late sign up penalty and also demand a roll back of the Medicare Part B premium to 78 dollars a month for 2007 or you will boycott products from Republican contributors Eckerd, CVS and Walgreens in his congressional district and in the rest of illinois.

Then call the local store or franchise of these companies and tell the manager that unless you can get the CEO of the company to get the Speaker of the house to get the legislation mentioned above enacted into law, you will never set foot in their store or franchise again or buy products from those companies again.

BEFORE YOU JOIN THIS GROUP PLEASE READ EVERYTHING HERE.

Please get your friends to add me as a friend. Thank you.

Click on this icon to add me as a friend.



On Wednesday July 5, 2006 and beyond I want each member of this group to call Wendy's restaurants and Outback Steakhouse Restaurants and tell the person who answers that unless the CEO can get congress to raise the minimum wage to $10 an hour that you will not patronize their restaurants again.

Wendy's Consumer Relations

Wendy's International, Inc.

4288 W. Dublin-Granville Rd.

Dublin, OH 43017

Phone: (614) 764-3100

Outback Steakhouse

Corporate Headquarters

2202 N. West Shore Blvd.

Ste 500

Tampa, FL 33607

Phone: 877-733-6774

Fax: 813-286-2247

NOTICE: By joining this group you pledge that you agree with the legislative platform listed below.

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO LEAVE THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY TO JOIN THIS PARTY. VOTE DEMOCRATIC IN ELECTIONS. I SET UP THIS PARTY SO YOU CAN VOTE WITH YOUR PURCHASES EVERY DAY AND PRESSURE GOP CONTRIBUTORS TO GET US OUR LIBERAL LEGISLATION ENACTED.

If you do not believe in the entire party platform or if you do not plan to send the platform to the people mentioned then this group does not appear the one for you. I created this party in order to get people to boycott certain companies that give money to the Republican Party in order to indirectly force congress to pass our agenda.

If you don't agree with the entire platform then you can join the single issue groups mentioned below instead as long as you agree with those premises and plan to call or email companies listed on those sites.

Although this party does NOT charge dues, please get other members to join this party by Inviting them and publicizing the party as much as you can. We have an open invitation policy here.

YOU PLEDGE THAT YOU WILL SEND THIS PLATFORM TEXT BELOW TO YOUR REPRESENTATIVE, THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE, YOUR SENATORS AND THE SENATE MAJORITY LEADER AND THE CEOs OF EACH OF THE COMPANIES LISTED BELOW.

A progressive agenda for America.

I demand that the Republican Party hold a press conference and accede to these demands. Until such a press conference happens and the legislation and/or actions gets passed I will boycott products from Republican contributors Dell Computers, Walmart, Wendy's, Outback Steak House, Dominos Pizza, Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Eckerd, CVS and Walgreens, Curves for women health clubs, General Electric and Exxon/Mobil.

I demand that congress pass legislation ending the war in Iraq and withdraw the troops and arrange with the United Nations to replace US troops with UN troops to defend Iraq until The Iraqi army can defend Iraq.

I demand that the Republican party end their aggressive and hateful action to end a woman's right to choose abortion or not.

I demand that the Republican party end their aggressive and hateful action to harrass immigrants to this country.

I demand that the Congress of the United states and the president of the United States enact a law to increase the minimum wage to TEN dollars an hour and also to extend unemployment benefits to a year or more for all people whose unemployment benefits expired after 6 months even though they still seek work.

I demand that the Congress of the United States to not privatize social security benefits in any form including taking a percentage of the social security tax and placing it in private accounts. People can already create their own pensions with money after taxes in the private sector.

I demand that the congress make all of a person's earned income taxable for social security FICA tax purposes and remove the 88,000 dollar taxable income limit. This will make social security solvent for many years to come.

I demand the congress increase the payroll tax in order to make social security solvent as well.

I demand congress and the president enact a prescription drug benefit under Medicare Part B which covers 80 percent of medication cost, with no extra premium, no extra deductibles, no means test and no coverage gaps, and no penalties for signing up in a succeeding year.

I demand congress repeal the faulty Medicare law HR 1 / S 1 passed by congress in Nov 2003 which includes repealing the means test for Medicare Part B.

I demand the congress roll back the Medicare Part B monthly premium to 78 dollars a month.

I demand congress enact single payer universal health insurance for every citizen as minimum coverage.

I demand that congress and the president enact universal vote by mail throughout the 50 states of the United States of America with paper ballots easy to fill out and difficult to change or invalidate by Republican Party officials. This will prevent Republicans from vote suppression by skin color and political party which happened electronically and in person in the 2000 and 2004 elections.

I demand that congress and the president enact that civil servants on every state payroll keep track of voter registrations and vote counting of mail in votes in each precinct and not companies such as Choicepoint. We need to take the Republican Party out of the business of keeping track of voter registration and counting votes.

I demand that congress and the president ban the secretary of state in each of the 50 states from engaging in politics especially acting as a campaign official for a presidential campaign.

I demand congress enact legislation protecting private pensions from corporations deliberately declaring bankruptcy or ending pensions outright.

You also pledge to boycott travel to South Dakota and Louisiana and their products as best as you can unless you reside in these states and will call or send email to the governor of Louisiana and South Dakota and tell them that unless they get their legislatures to repeal the abortion bans fully, you will not do business with them any more and that you will not do business with antiabortion and Republican Party supporting companies Dominos Pizza and Curves for women health clubs.

Please join this new group in order to force congress to repeal Medicare Part D and Replace it with 80 percent medication coverage in Medicare Part B

http://groups.myspace.com/medicareprescriptiondrugs

Please join this new group in order to force congress to enact vote by mail with paper ballots counted by civil servants.

http://groups.myspace.com/votebymailwithpaperballots

Please join my group End the war in Iraq

http://groups.myspace.com/endthewarinIraq

Please also join my other group Increase the minimum wage at

http://groups.myspace.com/raisetheminimumwage

Copy the text of the party platform in blue colored text and place it in the text box of the mail forms provided by these links.

You can send email to speaker of the House Dennis Hastert by clicking on this form link.

You need to use the ZIP code 60510 in order to write to the speaker.

http://www.house.gov/hastert/write1.shtml

You can contact Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist by clicking on this link.

You need to use the zip code 37205 in order to write to the Senate Majority leader.

http://frist.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction
=AboutSenatorFrist.ContactForm

You can contact Wendy's Restaurants at

http://www.wendys.com/contact.jsp

You can contact Outback Steakhouse at

http://www.outback.com/contactus/index.asp

You can email General Electric by going to the web site http://www.ge.com

or at their consumer electronics feedback page

https://www.home-electronics.net/CustomerContact
Us/1,7315,CNUS-LNUE,00.html

or at their general feedback web page.

https://www.ge.com/ge/feedback.htm

You can contact Eckerd Pharmacies at

https://www2.eckerd.com/content.asp?content=help/postoffice

You can contact CVS Pharmacies at

customercare@cvs.com

You can contact Walgreens Pharmacies at

investor.relations@walgreens.com

You can contact Exxon/Mobil at

Exxonmobil.com Comments

You can contact Red Lobster restaurants at

rlmedia@redlobster.com

You can contact Olive Garden restaurants at

ogmedia@olivegarden.com

You can contact Dominos Pizza at

http://info.dominos.com/dominos_pizza/
contact.nsf/frmContact?openform

[ Dominos Pizza claims that they no longer associate with the Republican Party and the antiabortion movement but the new CEO David Brandon, a high level Republican almost ran for the senate in Michigan as a Republican and their company PACs gave money to the Republican Party. Ignore their text about the former CEO. The current Dominos Pizza CEO David Brandon also opposes raising the minimum wage and on that issue alone should give you reason to boycott Dominos Pizza. ]

You can contact Dell Computers at

https://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/
support/en/site_feedback?c=us&l=en&s=gen

Important. Remove the referring url on the Dell computer web form. Thank you.

You can contact Walmart at

http://www.walmartstores.com/GlobalWMStoresWeb/
navigate.do?catg=221

You can contact Curves for women health clubs at

http://www.curves.com/contact_us/questions.php

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Direct Democracy

Submitted by crackerjack on Sat, 08/12/2006 - 8:28pm.
Although TABOR is abusing the initiative process now, the progressive response shouldn't be to call for restrictions on the initiative, our one firm toehold on direct democracy. Instead we should be for expanding the system to its logical conclusion: Government that's of, for and by the people. And once we each truly have control of our individual and collective destinies, it'll be goodby and good riddence, TABOR. After all, in an egalitarian society who'll need it?
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