Free Republic

Journal-Courier If a Pittsfield chiropractor gets his way, his neighbors will be allowed to be armed in public. Dan Mefford is spearheading a petition drive to have an initiative addressing the weapons issue placed on the March primary ballot. “The initiative essentially bypasses the Chicago Machine that is currently ruling Illinois,” Mefford said. “I recommend that each county in Illinois get on board and pass the same gutsy version for the constitutional carry of arms.” An initiative is a process that enables a specified number of voters by petition to propose a law and submit it to voters in a...

California’s initiative process has long been a thorn in the side of the state’s labor unions and their allies in the Democrat Party. While they have occasionally utilized ballot measure to coax more money out of taxpayers, overall progressives have viewed ballot initiatives as the one aspect of the state’s government that they cannot fully control. Their stranglehold on the legislature and deep pockets for election spending ensure their domination as California’s most powerful political influencer. For besieged conservatives and businesses, bypassing the union-controlled legislature and appealing directly to voters has been a saving grace and has slowed, if not...

“Entrepreneurs embody the promise of America: the idea that if you have a good idea and are willing to work hard and see it through, you can succeed in this country. And in fulfilling this promise, entrepreneurs also play a critical role in expanding our economy and creating jobs.” – President Barack Obama, January 31, 2011 The recent White House announcement of a new government program to promote entrepreneurship must signify that the Obama Administration finally “gets it” about job creation and economic recovery, right? Certainly free-market conservatives can agree with the President’s inspiring words. But … The problems, as...

Last fall, leftist ideological groups of socialists and communists teamed up with American labor unions to march together for “One Nation.” Now, as labor leaders struggle to maintain a stranglehold on collective bargaining privileges in Wisconsin, the same groups are once again marching together under a banner claiming unions are the heart of the American dream.As we’ve reported, former White House green jobs czar Van Jones this week issued a rallying call for the progressive movement to “renew itself and become again a national force with which to be reckoned.” On Saturday, progressive groups and labor unions are reportedly planning...

After stalling out several times, an initiative to create a commission in Denver to study extraterrestrials is once again looking to take off. Jeff Peckman kicked off his voter education campaign this week for Initiative 300, which would establish a seven-member panel that would be charged with collecting data and research to prepare Denverites in the event of a possible alien encounter. The initiative received enough valid signatures to be placed on the November ballot. Peckman yesterday was enthusiastic about raising awareness for his initiative. [....] The Extraterrestrial Affairs Commission would consist of a seven person panel that would have...

Enhancing the grassroot movement -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The theme of The People's Initiative will enhance the effectiveness of the emerging grassroot movement against unrestrained government growth by offering a message that is focused, positive, concrete, and dramatic. Focused. The initiative theme is focused because it solves just one problem, namely, the fundamental problem that underlies the unrestrained growth of government. Positive. The initiative theme establishes a positive message, namely, power for the people — government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Concrete. The initiative theme transforms the idea of the cost of government into a concrete image, namely,...

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama sought Thursday to put some detail behind his lofty drive to double U.S. exports over the next five years, calling the effort imperative to putting people back to work. But doubts remain about how many net jobs his trade agenda will create—and how he will get it done. In a speech to the Export-Import Bank conference, Obama outlined steps to flesh out his trade initiative. Among them: creating a mini-Cabinet of officials to focus on exports, seeking more financing to support trade efforts, beefing up enforcement of existing trade deals and pushing for the...

Dear Friends, The State of California is too big to fail. Do these words cause concern? They very well should. The State of California is in a financial crisis and about to become a burden….Your burden. The elected leadership in California would just assume pass on our bills to all of you, whether you live in California or not. The current administration in Washington believes they have a strong constituency here and must bail us out with your money. How does that thought grab you? Most of you know that trends beginning in California quickly find their way across the...

http://www.waterforfighting.org http://www.petitiononline.com/CWPOSSE/ Media Release: This Saturday, February 27, 2010 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. California Watershed Posse Co-Founder and executive director Oscar Braun will be interviewed live on Santa Cruz KSCO AM radio by host and station owner Michael Zwerling on his Saturday Special show. The California Watershed Posse is proposing a controversial California statewide ballot initiative that would significantly change property taxes, present restrictions on air, land, and water resource use, and otherwise reset the economy of California. The proposed ballot initiative appears below. KSCO radio serves much of the Central Coast of California and can also be...

Date: February 18, 2010 To: Diane F. Boyer-Vine, Legislative Counsel of California From: Oscar Alejandro Braun, Co-founder of the California Watershed Posse Subject: Submission of text of proposed law (Government Code Section 10243) Total Electors Signatures Pages Attached: 6 We, the People of the Republic of California, hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the...

Mississippi is in the last three weeks of a Voter ID Ballot Initiative. If we get more signatures, it will get on the ballot. If passed, it will require people to show an ID before voting. Everywhere from Jackson down to the coast needs more signatures. We need people to sign this petition, we need people to go door to door, put them in stores, churches or at any event where people gather. We will never have this opportunity again. If you are against voter fraud and are from Mississippi please get on board this effort now. Go to this...

WASHINGTON – Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin says the U.S. has "lost the initiative" in the war against insurgents in Afghanistan. In a speech to the Senate Friday, Levin says he wants heightened training of Afghan armed forces before committing more American troops. Levin, D-Mich., urged the Obama administration to expand Afghan forces to 240,000 troops and Afghan police to 160,000 officers by 2013.

SACRAMENTO - Secretary of State Debra Bowen today announced that the proponent of a new initiative may begin collecting petition signatures for her measure. The Attorney General prepares the legal title and summary that is required to appear on initiative petitions. When the official language is comp lete, the Attorney General forwards it to the proponent and to the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State then provides calendar deadlines to the proponent and to county elections officials, and the initiative may be circulated for signatures. The Attorney General's official title and summary for the measure is as follows: PART-TIME...

LONGMONT — Free Marijuana in Longmont is collecting signatures to ask voters in November to change city pot laws. But even some members of the group aren’t confident they’ll get the question on the ballot. The group wants to legalize possession of less than 1 ounce of marijuana for adults and reduce city penalties for public consumption of marijuana and possession of some types of drug paraphernalia. Volunteers have been walking neighborhoods, knocking on doors and visiting local bars and hangouts as they try to collect the 3,485 signatures they need to put the question before voters. Free Marijuana volunteers...

Let’s cut to the chase: The Open Government Dialogue — the Obama administration’s much-ballyhooed initiative to engage with the public in an online forum — got slimed. The brainstorming forum, managed by the National Academy of Public Administration, was designed to allow the public to provide input on how to make government operations and information more transparent. Participants were invited to submit ideas and rate other people’s ideas with a thumbs up or thumbs down. The system would tally the votes and assign a score to each suggestion. This mechanism would make it possible for the public at large to...

AUSTIN, Texas (CNN) -- Former President Bill Clinton was in Austin, Texas, over the weekend to host the Clinton Global Initiative University, which encourages college students and administrators to come up with creative ways to address global issues. Former President Bill Clinton praises the Obama administration's handling of the stimulus bill. CNN's John Roberts sat down with Clinton to ask him about how the Obama administration is performing, how his wife, Hillary Clinton, is doing as secretary of state, and what responsibility he may have for the current financial crisis. John Roberts: Mr. President, in terms of the overall economic...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12, 2009 – A new research and awareness program geared toward preventing motor vehicle fatalities among veterans who return from deployments was formally launched today during a news conference at the Veterans Affairs Department here. Veterans Affairs Secretary James B. Peake teamed up with the Defense and Transportation departments and NASCAR legend Richard Petty to announce the creation of the “Home Safe, Drive Safe, Stay Safe” initiative, which he told reporters is designed with one objective: to save the lives of veterans on the highways. “We’ve all come together to address something that is a recurring problem,”...

Case No. 8168047 IN THE Supreme Court of the State of California KAREN 1. STRAUSS et al., Petitioners, v. MARK B. HORTON, as State Registrar of Vital Statistics, etc., et al., Respondents; DENNIS HOLLINGSWORTH et al., Interveners. INTERVENERS' OPPOSITION BRIEF KENNETH W. STARR (Bar No. 58382) 24569 Via De Casa Malibu, CA 90265-3205 Telephone: (310) 506-4621 Facsimile: (310) 506-4266 ANDREW P. PUGNO (Bar No. 206587) LAW OFFICES OF ANDREW P. PUGNO 101 Parkshore Dr Ste 100 Folsom, CA 95630-4726 Telephone: (916) 608-3065 Facsimile: (916) 608-3066 Email: andrew@pugnolaw.com Attorneys for Interveners TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF AUTHORITIES iii ISSUES PRESENTED 1...

Is that laundry soap truly "environmentally friendly"? Was that mattress treated with toxic chemicals? Is that sweatsuit fashioned from organic cotton? Is that lipstick "natural"? California officials launched a sweeping green initiative on Tuesday to inform consumers exactly how hundreds of thousands of products sold in the state are manufactured and transported and how safe their ingredients are. The plan, which would require every product to reveal its "environmental footprint," envisions the most comprehensive regulations ever adopted for consumer goods. "These recommendations usher in a new era of how we look at household products -- from our children's toys to...

SACRAMENTO – When Hiram Johnson championed an initiative system for California nearly a century ago, he sold it as a grass-roots way to “arm the people to protect themselves.” California's 23rd governor foresaw citizen campaigns that would spring to life and put propositions on the ballot when the Legislature failed to address a pressing need. --snip-- But 97 years after Californians voted to allow themselves to put measures on the ballot, overturn laws adopted by the Legislature and oust elected officials in midterm, Johnson's experiment in direct democracy has changed dramatically. He couldn't have envisioned the multimillion-dollar campaigns for Proposition...