 |
Speaker Notes compiled by Mike Ford It's not about politics - it's about FREEDOM |
Not sure who your State Legislator is, click here
Would your organization like a speaker on I & R?
Would you like to see additional speaker notes?
|
|
Speaker Notes compiled by Mike Ford It's not about politics - it's about FREEDOM |
Since the beginning of time, most of the people ever born lived their entire lives without freedom. And most of the people who are now alive do not have freedom.
Yet here we are --- living in freedom.
We think it is the natural state. IT IS NOT.
We live in freedom because
our forebears fought and died to obtain it.
And now, we are losing our freedom - piece by piece
not to the Russians or the Chinese --- or to Islam,
but to our own cancerously growing governments.
We are giving up our freedom with hardly a murmur.
What freedoms are we losing?
Our income
Coercive taxation takes 40% to 50% of all our
income.
We have been burdened with a multi-trillion dollar debt.
When we don't give even more to our insatiable governments,
--- we are told we are greedy.
Our HUMAN right to control our own property
What our property can be used for
What, when, and if we can build on our own property
Tidewater property
Pieces of our life --- taken from us by legislators
Using the Social Security # as a National ID
number
Requiring that all phones in the country be wiretap-able
Telling us what we can and can't put in our bodies
--- what we can smoke, drink, eat
--- what medicine we can use
Requiring that we ask permission for all manner of things
we used to decide for ourselves
Restricting our habeas corpus protections
This massive transfer of our wealth to the government threatens to enslave us and our children forever - with innumerable, insatiable government bureaucracies (all possessing growing police powers) that will attempt to tell us how to live our lives.
Milton Friedman has said, "I believe our present predicament exists because we have gradually developed governmental institutions in which the people effectively have no voice."
James Payne's studies found that testimony at Congressional hearings ran 145 to 1 in favor of spending. He found that 63% of those testifying were employed by government. Government is --- by far --- the largest special interest group.
State
Legislatures are a smaller version of Congress.
City and County Councils are miniature versions.
The INITIATIVE process is the ONLY tool powerful enough to peacefully reverse this accelerating government takeover of our freedoms.
What is the right of Initiative?
the right of Texas citizens to propose state laws or constitutional amendments which (if hundreds of thousands of signatures can be collected in support) --- would be placed on the ballot for the approval (or rejection) by voters.
Is I & R something new?
Citizens using the initiative started the following movements:
The INITIATIVE is the primary tool of freedom. Texans don't have it.
Sometimes opponents of Initiative will claim that when Texans get the Initiative,
it will replace the Legislature. This is totally false.
· The Initiative does not replace the Legislature.
· In 1998 in the 24 states with initiative rights, citizens passed
45 new laws out of the 100 they proposed to themselves --- via public ballot.
· Meanwhile, Legislatures in those 24 states were passing
14,753 new laws out of the 71,979 they proposed to themselves --- in chambers.
Thus, in states with initiatives --- citizens
pass one new law
--- for every 327 new laws their Legislators pass.
Every two years a group of 181 persons meets in Austin. This select group is legally licensed to take money from the citizens of Texas. They are the members of the Texas Legislature. In addition to taking $150 billion from us each session, they also impose on Texans 1,500 new laws --- laws that few even know about --- let alone understand.
Government civics classes tell us if we don't like what these 181 people do, we can vote them out of office.
But there are 181 of them. You get to vote for 2 --- that's 1%. The other 179 legislators (99%) are protected from our views. We can not vote for them.
Texans want I&R
An April 1995 Tarrance poll found that 68% of Texans
want Initiative and Referendum, with only 20% opposed.
A July 1998 Rasmussen Research poll found 74%
of Texans want I&R, with only 12% opposed.
Twice Republican Party primary voters were asked if they favored I&R.
They did
--- by margins of 7 to 1 and 5 to 1.
A 1994 NFIB poll of its Texas members found that 62%
wanted Initiative and Referendum --- only 21% opposed.
Jerry Patterson said,
"The
1st amendment to the U. S. Constitution enumerates the right of the people
'to
petition the government for redress of grievances.' A petition with
the signatures
of all 19 million Texans would mean nothing
without a statutory I & R mechanism in place.
The legislature should pass I & R, and
enact this right guaranteed
by both the U. S. and the Texas
constitutions."
Bob Bullock said,
"I pledge to support and vote for a constitutional amendment to provide for Initiative and Referendum, assuming it is well crafted."
Majority Leader Dick Armey said,
George W. Bush said,
"Initiative and referendum make government more responsive to its citizens, neutralize the power of the special interests and stimulate public involvement in state issues."
How are we going to get Initiative rights?
Initiative for Texas
1. Sign up now.
2. Go to the web site.
3. Get yourself informed on the subject.
4. Use the Who Represents Me? feature of
Texas Legislature Online to learn who your reps are.
5. Print out the "How can I help?" page.
6. Take the actions listed on the "How can I help?" page.
7. If you don't have internet access,
call us at (936) 288-0781.
"There are those occasions under our form of government
when the interests of the represented
and the interests of the representatives are at odds.
I & R are the means by which the represented assure
that their interests ultimately prevail."
John Talley of Longview, Texas