Voice For Liberty

Tag: Politics

  • Wichita Tea Party Citizen Report

    A citizen report submitted by John Todd. Photos are available by clicking here. More coverage and video can be viewed by clicking here.

    An estimated 100-plus citizen activists assembled today near Second and Waco Streets to participate in a protest of the federal stimulus package and bailouts. The event was billed as The Wichita Tea Party. Two men drove 200 miles from Garden City to attend. Other Kansans were here from Abilene, Hutchinson, Andover, and Augusta.

    A gentleman from the Kansas City area came dressed in a pink pig suit with a sign denouncing “pork spending.” He delighted the crowd.

    In addition to children, one lady brought her dog with a protest sign around his neck, reading “I didn’t read it either.”

    A couple of middle-aged women from Wichita arrived early at the event indicating that this was their first involvement in citizen activism, and that they were hot about the stimulus spending that was emanating from Washington.

    Staffers from Congressman Todd Tiahrt’s office participated along with dozens of like-minded citizens and several activist coalitions complaining about the stimulus.

    The crowd carried signs, waved at passing cars whose drivers honked and gave thumbs-up signs marking their approval of the tax protest movement.

    The event was a tremendous success and shows just what grassroots citizen activists can do to express their feelings of frustration towards a government that appear to have lost sight of the people who actually pay the bills. A general feeling among the crowd was that many of our leaders in Washington are moving our country towards an involuntary redistribution of wealth known as socialism.

    They also appreciate the members of the Kansas congressional delegation who voted against the stimulus package.

  • Wichita Tea Party Photos

    Wichita Tea Party, February 27, 2009

    In Wichita, it was a cold day with a freezing wind, but quite a few protesters –human, canine, and porcine — came out to show their displeasure with the direction of our country. Appreciation was also expressed for the members of the Kansas Congressional delegation who voted against stimulus pork and bailouts.

    Wichita Tea Party, February 27, 2009

    Click here for more photos from this event. Or, click here for an automatic slideshow.

    See more coverage by clicking on Wichita Tea Party.

  • Articles of Interest

    Subsidizing Bad Ideas What are some of the things wrong with the president’s plan to solve the mortgage crisis? Howie Rich of Americans For Limited Government explains: “First, the plan is emblematic of America’s new “dependence mentality,” which is advanced by politicians like Obama who rhetorically extol the virtues that once made this country great while they systematically remove brick-by-brick the incentives needed to make it great once again. Second, it’s more of the same smoke-and-mirrors Washington politicians employ to hide the true coming-and-goings of your tax dollars in our nation’s capital. Third, it rewards many of the same financial institutions whose mistakes have helped bring this nation to the brink of fiscal ruin – and incentivizes them to make those same mistakes all over again.”

    Judging Obama John Stossel explains some of the problems in judging the success of failure of President Obama’s economic interventions, and who should get the credit or blame.

    Obama Gives Failing Schools a Pass: The day of reckoning has arrived — except for teachers’ unions (Chester E. Finn Jr. & Michael J. Petrilli in National Review). “This is classic Obama, straddling the Democratic divide on education, just as he did so deftly during the campaign, striving to placate both the reformers within the party and the union bosses. … It’s no accident that our schools aren’t producing enough well-educated graduates; that’s because the system has been designed to place the needs of adults over the needs of kids. But saying any of that would put him at odds with the education establishment, which he doesn’t appear to want to cross.” More indication that President Obama will not implement any meaningful education reform.

    Zoomdweebie’s builds success on Twitter (Wichita Eagle). A Wichita business uses social media like Twitter to boost business.

    The Government’s War on Recession. Lew Rockwell explains some of the problems and dangers with the way the Obama administration is attacking the problems with the economy: “The economics of stimulus are not as complicated. They amount to taking from some and giving to others. There is no wealth creation at all. There is no magic ‘multiplier’ to turn stones into bread. The economics of stimulus is value-destroying, because property is pried loose from owners who are putting it to socially useful purposes, and given to government so it can pass it out to friends. This process is costly to overall wealth production — and most of those costs are unseen. We will never know what kind of real stimulus could have taken place had the property been left in private hands. What jobs might have been created, what investments might have been made, what kind of business expansions might have taken place? We will never know.”

  • In Wichita, Angry Citizens Revive Boston Tea Party Protest

    Wichita Tea Party organizer Nancy Armstrong talks about Friday’s Wichita Tea Protest on KAKE Television:

    Coverage at KAKE Television is at Angry Citizens Revive Boston Tea Party Protest.

    Other stories at Voice For Liberty in Wichita are at
    Wichita Tea Party
    Area Residents Plan Wichita Tea Party
    Wichita Tea Party, from AFP

  • Read the Bill

    The Sunlight Foundation has created the website ReadTheBill.org. This site contains information about how bills such as the recent stimulus bill aren’t read by members of Congress of their staff before they’re voted on.

    The Sunlight Foundation asks for Congress to post all bills online for 72 hours before they are debated.

    There’s a lot of useful information and a video on this site, as well as an online petition to sign.

  • Wichita Tea Party, from AFP

    Here’s a message from Americans For Prosperity’s Kansas state director Derrick Sontag about the Wichita Tea Party this Friday.

    It started with people like you, logging on and signing our petition at NoStimulus.com, and now we have a full-blown grassroots movement on our hands.

    One such activist, Nancy Armstrong, supported Hillary Clinton in the 2008 primary and even went on the road, campaigning for the former New York Senator. But while on the campaign trail, Nancy learned more than she anticipated about the Obama campaign. Now she’s joining the fight against the massive deficit spending bill by organizing the Wichita Tea Party, part of the nationwide grassroots movement that’s spreading like wildfire from coast to coast.

    Join Nancy at a rally this Friday outside Senator Sam Brownback’s Wichita office:

    Wichita Tea Party
    11:30 a.m., Friday, Feb. 27
    Senator Sam Brownback’s Office ( Farm Credit Bank Building, 245 N. Waco, Wichita)

    Let’s help support this cause tomorrow — bring your homemade signs and show your appreciation to Sen. Brownback for opposing this federal bailout bill, and your frustration for this bloated spending bill.

    This stimulus package is not only detrimental to our national economy, but it has immediate implications right here in Kansas. Our state faces a $1 billion budget shortfall, and we need budget reform — now. This federal bailout bill for the states will be too much of a temptation for our legislators, who may see this as a way to avoid making those tough budget decisions that come with real and meaningful budget reform.

  • Area Residents Plan Wichita Tea Party

    Grassroots movement sweeps into Wichita with anti-stimulus rally

    WICHITA — Grassroots activists in Wichita will rally outside Sen. Sam Brownback’s office on Friday, to show their appreciation to the senator for opposing the federal stimulus bill, and to demonstrate their frustration with big government spending.

    Nancy Armstrong, Garden Plain, organized the rally at 11:30 a.m. Friday, Feb. 27 outside Sen. Sam Brownback’s office (245 N. Waco, Wichita).

    Sen. Brownback voted against the federal bailout bill. Armstrong said Friday’s rally is intended to thank the Senator for standing in opposition to this bill, but also to let everyday Kansans vent their frustration with the current spending in Congress.

    Armstrong previously worked for the 2008 presidential campaign for Hillary Clinton, but has since devoted her efforts to opposing the big-government, liberal schemes put forth by Congress and the Obama Administration.

    “The powers in Washington are out of touch with the American people,” said Armstrong. “But Americans taxpayers are not going to take all of this spending lying down.

    “We’ll keep reminding our elected officials that we’re not happy with this ‘porkulus’ bill, and we’ll certainly remember this in the 2010 elections.”

    The Wichita Tea Party will be held simultaneously with local tea parties nationwide as part of a growing nationwide movement allowing everyday citizens to voice their opposition to the federal stimulus package.

    For more information, contact Nancy Armstrong at 316-990-6009 or renaissancelady46@yahoo.com.

  • Public education illustrates special interest politics

    One of the problems with government today is the proliferation of special interest groups, and then how issues are framed according to the needs of these special interest groups.

    You might think that public education would fall outside the wrangling of special interest groups. After all, it’s “for the kids,” as we’re reminded. But the public schools and their lobby are one of the fiercest special interest groups.

    Even conservatives fall into this trap and may ask “what’s in it for me?” or “what is my relationship to this issue?” Here’s an example.

    On a recent episode of the KPTS television public affairs program Ask Your Legislator, a Kansas Representative, a conservative Republican, introduced his answer to a question about Kansas education funding this way:

    “I share the gentleman’s concern about public education since my wife is a teacher. I have no children in public schools at this time because they have all grown and left the public schools.”

    Why did he feel it was necessary to introduce his remarks this way? Is he saying that because his wife works for the public schools, he has an interest in their funding? That’s characteristic of special interests and their supporters.

    Or, since he has no children that attend public schools, he is less interested in their funding? Again, evidence of special interests at work.

    This Kansas House Member has a very good ranking from the Kansas Taxpayers Network, so he has proven conservative fiscal credentials. So I hate to pick on him.

    But this serves to illustrate how entrenched special interest politics are. We don’t even recognize it.