Car Tax Hoax: How Stupid Do They Think We Are?

How stupid do Speaker Mattiello and Governor Raimondo think we are? Pretty stupid, with no evidence to the contrary.

The only way to eliminate car taxes is for each city and town to reduce its budget by the amount it currently charges its residents. Anything else is smoke-and-mirrors cost shifting – which is exactly how we got here in the first place. Apparently no one remembers – especially not in the Speaker’s district in Cranston.

The consequence of state subsidies of car taxes was more municipal spending. Local pols quickly realized if they inflated the values of jalopies and jeeps, the state would pay more. The state didn’t complain about over-valued vehicles, and we taxpayers didn’t complain because, well, we weren’t paying those inflated values. Until we did. 

When state funding was cut and municipalities were left with bloated budgets and no more state welfare, towns turned to their only real source of revenue: us - and our tax bills skyrocketed. 

 

And we failed to make our local leaders accountable in any effective way since. Instead, here we are, clamoring for state officials to do it all again.  

There is no magic source of state funding that will eliminate the car tax. For that, urge your mayor or town administrator to cut the municipal budget. It’s that easy – and that hard.

Taxation is theft. It doesn’t matter if the town pilfers it from your left side pocket or the state confiscates it from your back pocket. It’s all your money.

Victory for Liberty: Asset Forfeiture Reform in Arizona

REPRINT of a MESSAGE FROM
Mike Maharrey of the TENTH AMENDMENT CENTER
April 22, 2017

The Tenth Amendment Center celebrated a major legislative victory last week. And it proves how much impact a small, dedicated group of activists can make at the state level.

Last Wednesday, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed a bill reforming the state’s civil asset forfeiture laws. The new law also takes on federal forfeiture programs by banning prosecutors from circumventing state laws by passing off cases to the feds in most situations.

Rep. Eddie Farnsworth (R-Gilbert) sponsored House Bill 2477 (HB2477). The new law will require prosecutors to establish a higher evidentiary standard for asset forfeiture. Under the old standard, law enforcement could take somebody’s property based merely on the preponderance of the evidence. HB2477 raises the bar, requiring police and prosecutors to provide “clear and convincing evidence” the property was linked to a crime. The law also includes stricter reporting requirements and oversight on the spending of forfeiture proceeds. While the new law will not require a criminal conviction before proceeding with asset forfeiture, it takes a step toward reforming Arizona law under a tougher standard.

This is a huge win.

Now, some people will say this isn’t that big of a deal. After all, it’s a relatively modest reform. But you have to understand Arizona politics to grasp just how significant it is to get this bill signed into law.

When some activists in the state told me they were going to push for forfeiture reform last fall, I thought to myself, ‘No freakin’ way!’

You see, law enforcement lobbyists have an amazing amount of influence in Arizona politics. I’ve seen them kill so many bills there over the last few years, I was extremely pessimistic that any kind of reform could get done – much less something as significant as closing a loophole that lets cops pass off cases to the feds and the collect up to 80 percent of the forfeiture proceeds through the federal Equitable Sharing program.

But I underestimated the power of activism.

This group of grassroots folks who pushed HB2477 through the process wasn’t big. Maybe 20 people – if that. But they worked their butts off. They held weekly conference calls. They visited legislators in Phoenix. They made phone calls. They attended hearings. They sent out emails. They countered all of the arguments by lobbyists. And they motivated others in the state to put the pressure on their legislators. I know for a fact the bill was dead in committee at one point. But somehow these grassroots heroes managed to apply enough pressure on the committee chair to get a hearing.

Seriously. This is huge. I really can’t properly convey here what a David-versus-Goliath story this is. A little volunteer force of everyday Arizonians with no money beat the crap out of coordinated, well-funded lobbyists.

This is how we win, ladies and gentlemen. This group of people isn’t special. They were just committed to a cause and willing to put in a little time and effort to advance liberty.

So often, we feel like there is nothing we can do. I hear it all the time. There is a sense of hopelessness. And maybe if you’re focusing on changing Washington D.C., that’s true. It’s amazing how fast Trump ran into the arms of the establishment, isn’t it?

But at the state and local level – you can make a difference.

So pick a cause. Commit to it. Organize and get stuff done!

 

Mob Intimidation of a State Legislator: Disgraceful Progressives in Rhode Island

By Steve Ahlquist on March 18, 2017

RI State Representative David Coughlin had a 9am wake up call Saturday morning as 35 people marched to his home on 9 Armistice Blvd in Pawtucket demanding that he drop his support for the anti-immigrant bill H5093, which would force local police officers to effectively act as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. Coughlin, an ostensible Democrat, represents District 60 in Pawtucket, an area with a large immigrant population. Coughlin previously experienced difficulty over his support for this bill in late February when he was confronted on the House floor and, after a few minutes of conversation with constituents, left in exasperation.

Meghan Kallman, Raul Figueroa, Sandra Cano

Pawtucket City Councillors Sandra Cano and Meghan Kallman helped to lead the march, along with Fuerza Laboral’s executive director Heiny Maldonado and organizer Raul Figueroa. The group, escorted by the Pawtucket Police Department for the safety of the marchers, arrived at Coughlin’s residence shortly before 9am and tried to get him to come out and address the crowd. Coughlin did not come to the door or answer his phone. A car with Coughlin’s House license plate 60, wrapped in a “Choose Life” frame, was parked in the driveway.

The crowd stood outside Coughlin’s residence for about ten minutes. Heiny Maldonado rang his doorbell and knocked, but did not get an answer. As the crowd departed, they left a small pile of messages, in the form of protest signs, on the front steps of Coughlin’s house. This is believed to be the first protest of a state legislator’s home in at least three years, and the success of the action points the way towards more such protests in the future.

On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee will take up H5093 as well as Representative Shelby Maldonado’s Trust Act, H5515, which would forbid local law enforcement from acting on ICE directives. The Committee meeting will start at the Rise of the House (4:30pm or so) in Room 205 in the Rhode Island State House. Also being heard Wednesday is the racist anti-immigrant bill H5394, which would require court sheriffs to inquire about the immigration status of people appearing in court, notify ICE, and assist is deportation proceedings.