A PUBLICATION OF THE EVERGREEN FREEDOM FOUNDATION 1

the deeper the cuts will need

to be.”

“the longer legislators wait to address the

problem,

tate lawmakers are trembling at the thought of try-ing to close the state’s growing $2.7 billion bud-

get deficit. Each week seems to bring more bad news—from increased welfare and school district enrollment caseloads, to weaker tax revenue-receipts and lawsuits from groups attempting to stop budget cuts.

Despite acknowledgement of the severity of the budget problem from both political parties and the governor, there has been very little leadership displayed by anyone in a position to do so. Governor Gregoire recently rejected the idea of a special session to deal with the problem, saying budget writers “haven’t gone in-depth” on the budget, and therefore couldn’t make thoughtful decisions.

The Democratic leadership in the legislature has also remained silent about offering any actual solutions, other than alluding to the “need” for tax increases.

Republicans have been fractured and disjointed in their response to the problem. Although Senator Joe Zarelli (R-Ridgefield) has been calling for a special session for months, Republicans have not united behind him; nor is their leadership proposing an alternative plan of their own.

The longer legislators wait to address the problem, the deeper the cuts will need to be. We are only five months into the current two-year budget cycle, which means any dollar that is saved effective January 1 is equivalent to a $1.50 cut in July.

If legislators were to pass an immediate savings bill in early December (as they did last March), they would have 19 months to eliminate the $2.7 billion deficit, or eliminating $142 million from the deficit each month.

If they wait until the end of March 2010, they would have only 15 months to make cuts, meaning cuts would have to be 27 percent higher.

If they delay cuts until July 1, 2010, legislators will have only 12 months to close the gap, bringing the monthly cut to $225 million—58 percent higher than if a special session were held this December to close the gap.

Unlike the now-legendary $9 billion “shortfall” of 2009, which included “business-as-usual” spending levels and two budget shortfalls added together, the current $2.7 billion problem is a true deficit. Real cuts will have to be made in order to balance the budget. Immediate steps need to be taken to avoid even deeper cuts.

save our states: a special report on the electoral college 5

LIVING LIBERTYDECEMBER 2009 | WWW.EFFWA.ORG A PUBLICATION OF THE EVERGREEN FREEDOM FOUNDATION

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leadership in olympia

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in action: Although the governor refuses to lead, legislators can

call themselves into a special session when they meet on December 3 and 4. It only requires two-thirds of them voting to agree that they have a fiscal calamity on their hands that needs to be addressed right now.

If legislators pass a savings bill in December, it will remove some of the panic and immediate pressure regarding the size of the budget deficit. It also means they can spend the legislative session crafting a thoughtful supplemental budget proposal well in advance of the 2011-13 budget. Policy changes will have to be made and priorities established if we are to avoid a fiscal nightmare in 2011.

Perhaps the majority of Democrats (and some Republicans) are holding out for more federal manna to fall from heaven, or for a magical tax package that won’t get them booted out of office in the 2010 elections. But

state government cannot be all things to all people; and this problem won’t get better on its own. Legislators need to do what they were hired to do: make tough budgeting choices about the priorities and roles of government.

Legislators need to revisit the Priorities of Government budgeting process. It will help them rank programs in order of importance so they can stop funding lower-priority programs. Prioritizing the state budget is really not very different

than prioritizing your own personal budget. Things like food, shelter, electricity and transportation to your job get funded first; whereas high-speed Internet, cable and eating out are top considerations for elimination.

But rather than attempting to seriously prioritize the budget, most of Olympia’s elected leaders will likely spend this time looking for ways to make tax and fee increases palatable to voters. In other words, they might not be “missing in action”, but engaged in “covert ops.”

The governor, legislature and budget writers have had plenty of time to evaluate their options. They already spent four months fighting about various cuts and tax increases at the beginning of 2009. It is unlikely that any grand new ideas will occur to them in February or March 2010 that haven’t occurred to them already. A budget deficit is only impossible to solve if legislators refuse to act.

Will Olympia’s leaders please stand up?

2 LIVING LIBERTY

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Evergreen Freedom Foundation PO Box 552

Olympia, WA 98507(360) 956-3482

Fax (360) 352-1874 info@effwa.org • www.effwa.org

VOLUME 19, Issue 12

EFF’s mission is to advance

individual liberty, free enterprise and

limited, accountable government.

this issue

Publisher:Lynn Harsh

Editors:Steven MaggiRich Frias

Layout:Joel Sorrell

DECEMBER 2009

LETTER FROM LYNN | by Lynn Harsh NOT ON OUR WATCH! HEALTH CARE LEGISLATION EYEBALL TO EYEBALL | by Scott St. Clair DOES YOUR SCHOOL DISTRICT PASS THE OPEN CHECKBOOK TEST? | by Brett Davis BOB WILLIAMS RECOGNIZED FOR HIS CONTRIBUTIONS TO WASHINGTON STATE by Michael Reitz

THE GENIUS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE: EVERY AMERICAN’S ALMA MATER | by Trent England

HISTORY ILLUSTRATES THE SUCCESS OF THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE by Trent England & Diana Cieslak

WHAT IS THE NATIONAL POPULAR VOTE? | by Trent England THESE UNITED STATES COMBINED FUND DRIVES AND MATCHING GIFTS | by Juliana McMahan

DINNER WITH A COURAGEOUS MAN | by Irene Endicott

THE FLAP OF A BUTTERFLY’S WINGS | by Judy Parkins EFF APPEALS RULING IN UNDERAGE VOTER REGISTRATION LAWSUIT by Michael Reitz

VISIT THE EVERGREEN FREEDOM FOUNDATION ONLINE TWO IMPORTANT IRA OPPORTUNITIES | by Juliana McMahan

2010Legislative Session Overview• LearntheLegislativeProcess(andhowyoucan

impact it)• DiscoverTipsandTricksforMakingYourVoice

Heard• HarnessthePowerofInternetTools• LearnHowtoReadandTrackaBill• ReceiveInsiderInfoFromLegislativeStaffMembers

“Europe was created by history. America was created by philosophy.”

– Margaret Thatcher

MERRy ChRistMas!From Your Friends at the Freedom Foundation

Legislative Training Day 1-9-2010

Saturday, January 9, 2010 | 9:00am - 3:00pm

DoubleTreeHotel16500 Southcenter Parkway Seattle, WA The Citizen Action Network is equip-ping the citizens of Washington to “Push Back” during the upcoming 2010 Leg-islative Session. As our state represen-tatives seek to increase taxes and de-crease freedom in our state, we need people who are ready and willing at a moment’s notice to make a difference. By attending our Legislative Train-ing Day, you’ll receive the tools and the knowledge to do just that.

Cost is $20 per person (includes lunch; parking is free)Group Rate: $15 per person for groups of 15 or moreIf you have questions or would like to register, please call Lasse Lund at 360-956-3482.

www.pushbacknotax.com

A PUBLICATION OF THE EVERGREEN FREEDOM FOUNDATION 3

t’s one thing to know what’s going on. It’s another thing to shape what’s going to happen in the future.

At the Freedom Foundation, we are helping to shape the events going forward.

That bold statement is not born from arrogance. It doesn’t come from turning a blind eye to the victories achieved by our ideological opponents. After all, they are frank about their plans to reshape America in their own image and, we must admit, they have been fairly successful.

My statement is nothing more than what should come from the lips of anyone who intends to help preserve our unique and precious country for the next generation. We need to win this epic battle of ideas, or personal liberty and the free enterprise system will remain on life support . . . and it will be on our watch! That is unacceptable.

Things may be bad right now for those of us who love liberty and believe that most our fellow human beings share the same feeling. But the days ahead look far bleaker for some interest groups—like organized labor.

Last year, we got our hands on an internal memo from a particular labor leader threatening retribution if Democrat elected officials didn’t agree to drink the unions’ own special brand of political Kool Aid. Despite making advances on their aggressive agenda—and during a recession at that—labor didn’t get every one of their high priority agenda items; so the union bosses reduced political contributions to Democrats. The Washington State Labor Council, the Service Employees International Union and the Washington Education Association have not refilled the Democrats’ political war chests at their usual normal rate.

Several weeks ago, The Seattle Times quoted state Democratic Party Chairman Dwight Pelz as saying, “I think the labor movement is more serious about withholding support from Democratic candidates this year than I have seen in my 30 years in politics. There’s even talk of trying to defeat some Democratic incumbents if they don’t support issues important to labor in the next legislative session — such as raising taxes to help close a growing budget shortfall.”

Letter from LynnLETTER FROM LY NNby Lynn Harsh

Not on our Watch!

I

Vision: We envision a day when opportunity,

responsible self-governance and

free markets flourish because citizens

understand and cherish the principles

from which freedom is derived.

he hottest political issue in America today is health care. It’s not the most important issue, just the hot-

test. Polling data shows it well down on the list of priori-ties that need to be addressed by Congress and the presi-dent. The wretched state of the economy and now-dou-ble-digit unemployment (10.2 percent as of this writing) are more important to the American people than push-ing a health care plan with a government option and the threat of jail time if you don’t have insurance.

No matter how you look at them, the numbers argue against what is being done in Congress. Claims that this plan will reduce the deficit and will lower costs, or that some other plan as yet undeveloped will be the ultimate free-healthcare lunch, run into three fundamental truths: initial

cost estimates are always low; revenue to fund a program never comes close to projections; and promises to reform bad behavior—in this case, waste and fraud in Medicare and Medicaid—are never kept.

For example, in 1967 the House Ways and Means Committee predicted Medicare would cost $12 billion in

1990. Wrong! In 1990 the tab was $110 billion, almost 10 times the estimate!

Current estimates for the various pieces of legislation floating through the House and Senate range from $1.2 trillion to $1.5 trillion with some non-governmental analysts going as high as $2 trillion! Now multiply those numbers by 10 . . . or does your calculator go that high?

Frankly, after TARP, or the no-jobs-left-behind stimulus plan that didn’t create many jobs, or the auto bailouts, or proposed cap-and-trade legislation estimated to cost $200 billion per year (that’s $1,761 for each American family), and more, I’m feeling tapped out. How about you?

Of course, some Republicans will support increased taxes or fees, especially for K-12. They seem oblivious to perverse incentives of the current system.

So here we are, with huge unfunded pension liabilities, a budget deficit way past $2 billion, and a revenue forecast that doesn’t look healthy for quite some time to come. Genuine job growth would help. It always does. But current tax, regulatory and spending policies have driven many small and large businesses out of state. Boeing Corporation has been exiting in bits and pieces for years. Its executives have been clear about the reasons why; and they are the same reasons that afflict small businesses throughout our state.

Still, our governor and most legislators believe that their collective wisdom is better than that of seasoned employers. Such hubris! Our governor and most legislators have spent the majority of their adult lives in public employment or in sectors heavily subsidized by tax dollars. Few have ever run a business or signed the front side of a paycheck.

So what’s their plan?

Wearetheir“plan”—wethetaxpayers!

For some elected officials, our financial predicament is good news, since they believe government should have an ever increasing role in our private lives. They are eager for government to redistribute our incomes. Other lawmakers . . . well, may I say kindly, perhaps they are not the sharpest knives in the drawer. Some others are deeply concerned and want to reduce the size and cost of government, but unfortunately they are in the minority.

Here’s the bottom line. The incentives must be changed. Lawmakers who choose to increase the size, scope and cost of government must pay the price with their constituents. They should not get re-elected, regardless of party, unless they happen to represent an electorate that embraces socialism.

In those cases, perhaps we should employ what Dennis Miller calls the Witless Protection Program. It requires lots of freedom lovers to move into a district long enough to vote out a powerful incumbent. He suggested Pelosi’s district, but something closer to home works better for me. Perhaps a bunch of us could learn to love downtown Seattle. We could probably get ACORN to find taxpayer-subsidized housing for us.

Okay, forget that idea. How about changing incentives by moving several hundred thousand more people off their sofas and into Town Hall meetings? How about replacing the remote control with fact sheets and sometimes a hand-held sign? Maybe we can send a few

powerful big-spending, high-taxing legislators back home to different jobs. Talk about incentives! That’ll send cold chills up dozens of fence-sitting lawmakers’ spines!

Count on it, the upcoming legislative session will be memorable. Labor leaders will demand tax increases to fund the special interests they represent. Those interests will be noisy and ever-present. They will testify at most hearings. They will bus supporters to the State Capitol.

Whatwillwe do?

Many lawmakers will proclaim that they have cut out all known government waste and have slashed agency budgets to the bone. This is nonsense, and we will prove it every day of this next legislative session.

So please stay informed and involved. In addition to watching for our updates and video links, please mark your calendar for Monday, February 15, 2010—a day to rally in Olympia—a day to further change the incentives for our lawmakers.

Andwhy?Becausewereallydon’twantlibertytodie on ourwatch!

“ Our governor and most legislators have spent the majority of their adult lives in public employment or in sectors heavily subsidized by tax dollars. Few have ever run a business or signed the front side of a paycheck.”

health care legislationeyeball to eyeball

Continued on page 10

by Scott St. Clair

T

4 LIVING LIBERTY

sking for more sunshine dur-ing the fall in precipitation-

prone Washington state might seem like a fool’s errand. However, the kind of sunshine the Evergreen Free-dom Foundation is requesting has to do with school district spending. Last month, the Freedom Foundation launched our Sunshine on School Spending Project. With the goal of helping policymakers and taxpayers better understand K-12 ed-ucation spending, we asked Washington school districts to post their budgets and warrants (check registers) on-line.

Responses ran the gamut, from “yes” to “no” to “maybe.” Given that we’re living in the Information Age, it’s not unreasonable to have budget information and a detailed expense report for school districts on the Internet available for public inspection. Approval of warrants—including check number, vendor name and amount—is already part of most school board meetings.

Transparency in school district spending offers a number of benefits to all concerned, including convenient access to public information, minimal cost, open communication and good publicity.Convenient Access to Public Information: Since

school districts receive and spend tax dollars, every dime received and spent should be available for the public to see. Furthermore, it shouldn’t be a Herculean task to get at such information. Under the Freedom of Information Act (and Washington’s public records law), school district budget and spending information is already public. Posting budgets and warrants online simply makes that information easier to access.

A one-stop-online-shop containing a school district’s budget and a detailed expenditure list would be a

goldmine of information for tax-paying citizens, journalists and anyone else interested.MinimalCost: Many of the school districts reluctant

to post budget and warrant information online cited cost as a factor in their responses to us. Posting warrants online requires no additional equipment, and only a limited amount of employee time. In just a few minutes, a document can be converted into PDF form and posted on a school district’s website. In fact, Board Docs is a program used by several districts around the region that makes it easy to post warrants online.

“The cost is minimal, and I would highly recommend it to other districts,” said Tracy Patterson, business manager for Renton School District No. 403, commenting on the program and the posting of financial information online. “It is an effective communications tool for board members, community members and the general public.”

In addition to shedding light on the details of public education spending, posting warrants online could, in the long run, actually save taxpayer dollars by allowing schools to shop for more cost-effective suppliers of goods and services. Also, when school district officials know the public is watching, they are more careful about how they spend taxpayer money.

Open Communication: Opening up the check registers of Washington’s public school districts and placing them in comprehensible form on the Internet shows the true costs associated with running a school district. For example, overhead costs such as fuel are easily overlooked by your average John and Jane Q. Public. By the same token, citizens get to see exactly how their tax dollars are being spent. Instead of an adversarial relationship between the school district and the public, transparency in spending would give citizens the chance to have their say on the budget, because they, too, know where every dollar is going.

GoodPublicity: Posting financial information online is a public relations victory waiting to happen for school districts, and would no doubt draw favorable press coverage. Making the public part of the budget process—or at least being more open to the public about where their money is going—can only be viewed as a good thing by the community.

The bottom line is school districts receive and spend public money. Given the state of today’s technology, it’s way past time for all school districts in the state to have a 21st century way of showing taxpayers where their money is going. Having a school district website that includes a budget, as well as a complete, itemized and clear description of all expenditures is not rocket science.

So far, only seven out of Washington’s nearly 300 school districts made our transparency honor roll for including budget and warrant information online—which is five more than before we asked. These districts include Edmonds, La Center, Monroe, Oakesdale, Raymond, Renton and Ritzville. If you live in one of these seven districts, please take a moment to thank your school board and superintendent, and consider writing a letter to your local newspaper commending your district for their transparency.

If your district isn’t among our seven honor roll members, check out our project website—www.effwa.org/sunshineonschools—and find out why your superintendent hasn’t acted on this important task (we have posted individual superintendent responses). If staff time or finances was cited as a primary concern, please contact your superintendent and school board and call them out on this baseless concern. Don’t let your school district rain on transparency. It’s okay to demand sunshine in Washington state when it comes to school district spending!

vergreen Freedom Foundation founder and senior fellow Bob Williams was recently honored by the

Puget Sound Chapter of the Federalist Society at its annual dinner. Founded in 1982, the Federalist Society is a group of conservatives and libertarians dedicated to reforming the current legal order, and committed to the principle that the state exists to preserve freedom.

At a event attended by Attor-ney General Rob McKenna, Washington State Supreme Court Justice Richard Sanders, state Senator Pam Roach, radio

talk show host Mike Siegel, legal professionals, and EFF supporters, Bob was presented with the Federalist Soci-ety’s “Justice Theodore Stiles Memorial Award” for his substantial contributions to conservative and libertarian thought in Washington state and around the county.

Who was Theodore Stiles? He was a delegate to Wash-ington state’s 1889 Constitutional Convention. He then

served as one of the first members of the Washington State Supreme Court, serving from 1889 until 1895. Most importantly, as Federalist Society chapter presi-dent Michael Bindas observed, “Justice Stiles was a great champion of the principles of limited government and individual liberty—two of the principles that the Federalist Society holds so dear.”

Bindas highlighted Bob’s years of service in the leg-islature and his work as founder and president of EFF, noting especially EFF’s battles with labor unions and its efforts to keep government limited to its proper role.

Our new study, Sweeping the Shop Floor: A New Labor Model for America,

traces the origins of organized labor in America to reveal that current

labor laws not only hamper worker freedom, but are simply obsolete.

Worse, this coercive, collective labor model hobbles a thriving free

marketplace—and thus the overall economy. In order for our

nation to re-emerge as a global leader, we need to change. Labor

laws should be as innovative and dynamic as the Americans

they serve. Sweeping the Shop Floor proposes a new labor

model which would neutralize government’s involvement in

the workplace and disarm powerful union monopolies, placing the

American Dream back into the hands of the American people.

watch for the release of Sweeping the Shop Floor at the beginning of 2010!

E

bob williams recognized for his contributions to Washington stateby Mike Reitz

Aby Brett Davisdoes your school district pass the open checkbook test?

A PUBLICATION OF THE EVERGREEN FREEDOM FOUNDATION 5

he Electoral College unifies, moderates, and pro-tects American politics.

For more than two hundred years, the United States has enjoyed a uniquely peaceful and prosperous existence under a system of constitutional and representative government. One of the reasons for this is the Electoral College, the mostly behind-the-scenes process for electing the President.

Indeed our greatest failure of domestic tranquility—the American Civil War—occurred only when other political forces overcame the incentives created by the Electoral College that favor moderate, two-party politics and national unity.

The Electoral College is, to be exact, the group of representatives (Electors) chosen in each state to cast the official ballots (electoral votes) for President of the United States.

Each state gets as many Electors as it has members of the U.S. House and Senate—the same voice in choosing the president as in Congress.

Before the presidential election, each political party nominates Electors who pledge to cast their electoral votes for that party’s presidential candidate.

When we citizens vote in a presidential election, we are really voting for our candidate’s Electors. If our candidate wins in our state, those Electors will represent us in the Electoral College and vote for our candidate.

Every once in a while, an Elector doesn’t vote the way he or she pledged (so-called “faithless” Electors); but this has never come close to affecting the outcome of an election.

Also, while most states select a slate of Electors based on the statewide vote total (“winner-takes-all”), Nebraska and Maine choose their Electors based on which candidate wins each congressional district, with the two remaining positions awarded to the candidate who wins the statewide vote.

The Framers of the U.S. Constitution created the Electoral College as a way to minimize the risk of

corruption, regionalism, and back-room politics in the selection of the nation’s chief executive.

A national popular vote was considered and rejected because it offered no protection against regional candidates, and might create extra opportunities for special interests or charismatic leaders to manipulate the system.

The Electoral College instead forces candidates to build broad-based national support, unifying rather than dividing the country.

In fact, the Electoral College probably works even better than the Framers had hoped.

Because most states choose Electors based on “winner-takes-all,” presidential candidates must not only have a base of states where most voters support the candidate, but then must reach out into the remaining most evenly balanced states—“swing states”—to build enough support for an Electoral College majority.

Political organizing is always easier in places where people live closer together; and half the nation’s population lives within its forty largest urban areas.

Without the Electoral College, presidential candidates would spend most of their time—and money—campaigning in the largest cities, ignoring rural and small town voters.

The Electoral College turns “swing states” into microcosms of America, where candidates are forced to get out and meet people in all kinds of communities and try to address their particular viewpoints and needs.

Presidential campaign strategists are forced by the Electoral College both to build national campaigns and to focus their outreach on the most politically balanced states.

And while the Electoral College does not require a two-party system, it creates a healthy incentive for people to build the large coalitions that usually result in two big, diverse political parties.

To become President, a candidate must win a majority of electoral votes (currently 270 out of 538). If no

The genius of the United States of Americais that we are both United and States.

“ . . . Towards the preservation of your government,

and the permanency of your present happy state, it

is requisite . . . that you resist with care the spirit of

innovation upon its principles, however specious the

pretexts. . . . In all the changes to which you may be

invited, remember that time and habit are at least as

necessary to fix the true character of governments

as of other human institutions; that experience is the

surest standard by which to test the real tendency of

the existing constitution of a country . . .”

FromPresidentWashington’sFarewellAddress

ur union, reaching “from sea to shining sea,” has provided the op-portunities, population, and re-

sources to allow America to become a powerful nation.

Our fifty states have kept most of our gov-ernment regional and local, even forcing gov-ernments to compete against one another for resources and loyalties.

The whole thing is an American original—no

O nation before ever set up government the way the American Founders did. And no nation ever enjoyed so much success.

The American system of states is called Federalism. One of the most important parts of this system is the Electoral College, the state-by-state way we elect the Presi-dent of the United States.

Both our system of Federalism and the Electoral College are unique American in-

ventions modeled on lessons from history.Unfortunately, in an era when even the study

of our own American history is neglected by her citizens, some self-appointed reformers want to unravel our American system of states.

The Freedom Foundation’s Save Our States project is dedicated to preserving these struc-tures because they are so important to our liberty, security and prosperity.

candidate has a majority, the election then goes to the U.S. House of Representatives where each state casts a single vote, decided by the House members from that state.

The only President elected by the House was John Quincy Adams, who beat out Andrew Jackson in 1824 by a vote of 13 states to Jackson’s 7, with 4 states voting for W. H. Crawford.

The Electoral College is like a stabilizer for American politics. It is one of the key reasons why the United States has been such a remarkably successful nation.

The Electoral College unites us by recognizing and respecting the unique role of states in our federal system.

Writing in the Federalist Papers, Alexander Hamilton acknowledged that while the Electoral College is not perfect, “it is at least excellent.”

T{ }The Electoral College: Every American’s Alma Mater

by Trent England

WWW.SAVEOURSTATES.COM

Virginia (13)1800: An Electoral College tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr sends the decision to the U.S. House of Representatives where Jefferson is elected on the 36th ballot.

1804: The Twelfth Amendment changes the way the Vice President is elected. Instead of the candidate with the second-highest number of electoral votes becoming Vice President, Electors now vote separately for President and Vice President.

WA, D.C. (3)1961: The 23rd Amendment gives Washington, D.C., three electoral votes.

1969: The Bayh-Celler Amendment is proposed. It would abolish the Electoral College. The House passes the Amendment. It is defeated in the Senate.

Nevada (5)1992: Bill Clinton wins the presidency with 370 electoral votes, even though he only wins a plurality of just 43% of the national popular vote. He wins Nevada with only 37.36% of the vote.

California (55)1880: The closest national popular vote in history with a margin of nine one-hundredths of one percent between winner and loser. California has the smallest state vote margin—144 votes.

2009: More than half the U.S. population now lives in just nine states. California has 55 total electoral votes – 31 electoral votes more than the seven smallest states and the District of Columbia combined. But under a national popular vote system, states with major population centers would get even more power.

{ }

HISTORY ILLUSTRATES the success of the Electoral College. Through over fifty presidential elections it has provided both moderating and unifying influences on candidates and political parties. It has isolated voting controversies (1876), sent regional candidates back to the drawing board (1888), and repeatedly focused candidates on an ever-changing group of the most moderate and politically balanced states.

Maine (4)1969: Maine begins casting its electoral votes by congressional district. The remaining two votes go to the statewide popular vote winner.

Rhode Island (4)2009: The state House of Representatives defeats National Popular Vote 45 to 28. One year earlier the bill had passed both legislative chambers but was vetoed by the governor.

Florida (27)2000: The presidential election comes down to Florida and a vote margin of about 0.01%. The Supreme Court finally ends the recounts and George W. Bush wins the presidency.

The seven smallest states (Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming) and the District of Columbia each have three electoral votes. A national popular vote would render all low-population states almost permanently irrelevant in presidential political strategy.

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he American system of states is called Federalism; and one of its most important parts is the Electoral College, the state-

by-state way we elect the President of the United States.Unfortunately, some self-appointed ‘reformers’ want to get rid of

the Electoral College and unravel our American system of states.Yet our past reveals just how important the Electoral College

and Federalism are to maintaining a stable, free, and prosperous America.

Through more than fifty presidential elections, the Electoral College has contained disputes within individual states, forced

candidates to build authentic nationwide coalitions, and focused campaign strategies on the most evenly balanced “swing states.”

From all these elections, the few that critics often cite as failures prove, on closer inspection, to reveal just how well the system works.

The Electoral College has repeatedly prevented close or disputed elections from turning into national catastrophes.

The Freedom Foundation’s Save Our States project is dedicated to preserving Federalism and the Electoral College because these structures are essential to our security and prosperity and, in the end, to keeping America free.

New York (31)1824: The decision is thrown to the House of Representatives when none of the four presidential candidates receives a majority of electoral votes. Five states, including New York, are still choosing Electors in their state legislatures.

2009: Over half of the U.S. population now lives in the nation’s forty largest urban areas.

Pennsylvania (21)1787: Philadelphia hosts the Constitutional Convention, where the Electoral College is created.

2003: Until National Popular Vote is proposed, even Electoral College opponents agree that a Constitutional Amendment is the only legitimate and appropriate way to change how Presidents are elected.

T

Illinois (21)1960: Illinois’s closest state election for president has a margin of 0.18%. Election fraud is alleged, but Richard Nixon concedes the election to John Kennedy.

Nebraska (5)1991: Nebraska begins using the congressional district electoral vote method already in place in Maine.

2008: Nebraska splits its electoral votes–four for John McCain and one for Barack Obama.

Washington (11)2009: Washington becomes the fifth state to enact National Popular Vote, following Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, and New Jersey.

South Carolina (8)1868: South Carolina adopts “winner-takes-all” for its electoral votes. Until the Civil War, the state legislature had appointed the state’s Electors.

1888: Incumbent President Grover Cleveland wins the national popular vote with overwhelming support in the Deep South (e.g. 82% in South Carolina, 74% in Louisiana), but loses the presidency to Rutherford B. Hayes in the Electoral College. Cleveland comes back to win in 1892, becoming the only president to serve non-consecutive terms.

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Alabama (9)1960: Six Electors are unpledged to any candidate, and vote for U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd.

1964: Democratic Party nominee Lyndon B. Johnson’s name does not appear on Alabama’s ballot.

Mississippi (6)1960: Mississippi elects a slate of unpledged Electors. They vote for U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd.

Louisiana (9)1876: Fraud, corruption, and confusion in Louisiana, South Carolina, and Florida result in these three states each sending Congress two competing sets of Electors. Congress creates a 15-member commission composed of five Supreme Court Justices, five Senators and five Representatives to decide which Electors to accept.

Missouri (11)1861-65: The American Civil War occurs when other political forces overcome the incentives for unity and stability created by the Electoral College. Direct election of Presidents would eliminate these incentives altogether.

Oklahoma (7)1960: One Elector pledged to Richard Nixon votes instead for U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd.

2009: The state House of Representatives introduces a resolution supporting the Electoral College and opposing National Popular Vote.

HI(4)

AK(3)

AZ(10)

ID(4)

UT(5)

NM(5)

CO(9)

TX(34)

ND(3)

SD(3)

KS(6) AR

(6) TN(11)

KY(8)

IA(7)

MN(10)

WI(10)

IN(11)

MI(17)

NC(15)

GA(15)

OH(20) MA

(12)NJ

(15)

CT(7)

MD(10)

WV(5)

WY(3)

VT(3)

NH(4)

DE(3)

WWW.SAVEOURSTATES.COM

538Total number of electoral votes

270Majority necessary to win the presidency

8 LIVING LIBERTY

{ }ational Popular Vote (NPV) is a San Francisco-based lobbying organization founded, chaired,

and funded by computer scientist Dr. John Koza.It is also the name of Dr. Koza’s plan to change how we

elect the President of the United States.NPV challenges the long-held belief that a constitutional

amendment is necessary to change the presidential election process.

Instead, Dr. Koza would create an interstate compact where states that pass his legislation agree to disregard the vote count in their state and instead appoint Electors who support the winner of the national vote.

Because the Constitution gives state legislatures power to appoint their electors, there is a chance that NPV would be upheld by the courts, even though the original intent was to allow each state to best represent the will of its own citizens or political leaders.

The compact would go into effect if passed by states with a total of 270 or more electoral votes—a majority, and thus enough to control who becomes president.

NPV would leave the Electoral College structure in place, but eliminate its effects; therefore doing away with its benefits.

At the same time, NPV fails to create any national standards for which candidates are on the ballot, who gets to vote, how votes are counted, and how they might be recounted.

Because NPV is an end-run around the constitutional amendment process, it cannot create an authentic national election with national standards.

NPV would, however, eliminate the practical benefits of the role of states in the presidential election process.

Part of the genius of the Electoral College is that it turns the fifty states into the equivalent of fifty

he balance of power between the national govern-ment and the thirteen original states was one of the

most contentious issues for the American Founders.The states were not only important historically, but also

as a way to keep government close to the people and to divide government power into as many hands as practical in order to preserve liberty.

At the Constitutional Convention in 1787 the small states wanted every state to have an equal voice in the national government to prevent perpetual domination by the large states.

The large states desired just the opposite. Representation based on population would give them even more power.

It was a compromise that created the U.S. Congress, where the states are represented equally in the Senate, but according to population in the House.

That compromise not only broke the deadlock that threat-ened to derail the Constitution—it became the foundation for our unique American system of Federalism.

watertight compartments on an ocean liner: a problem in one compartment—or state—can be isolated and then fixed, without detriment to the entire ship . . . or country.

NPV would make American presidential elections the electoral equivalent of the Titanic.

The NPV proposal would also allow a candidate to win without any sort of majority, encouraging more candidates to run and thus ensuring that future Presidents would be elected with smaller and smaller pluralities (for example, under NPV you might have five serious candidates and the winner could receive less than a third, or even less than a quarter, of the national vote).

Even worse, if NPV ever succeeded, the next step in nationalizing American elections would be a national election bureaucracy—for the first time putting presidential appointees in charge of presidential elections.

NPV is a clever political tactic for Electoral College opponents frustrated by the hard work required to change the Constitution.

But clever tactics are often bad public policy—Dr. Koza’s NPV plan would manipulate the Electoral College and endanger election integrity.

Dr. Koza’s first foray into politics was to convince state legislatures to adopt lotteries using his patented scratch-off ticket (and then to pay royalties back to Dr. Koza).NPVisanevenbiggergamble.

what is national popular Vote?

“ National Popular Vote would make American presidential elections the electoral equivalent of the Titanic.”

The national government was set up to provide national defense, manage foreign trade, and referee disputes between the states—in short, to provide the states with safety and commerce similar to the way the British Empire did for the thirteen original colonies.

The states were left to manage their internal affairs and to compete with one another. That is why after 220 year of political experimentation and change the states are sometimes referred to as our “fifty laboratories of democ-racy.”

Federalism fosters diversity by allowing groups of peo-ple in different states to manage their affairs differently, to innovate or remain the same, to address local needs.

And by keeping government local, dividing it up, and making it compete, Federalism protects freedom.

The American system of states is not just unique—it has been uniquely successful. Federalism is an American invention worth preserving.

by Trent England

N

These Uni t ed S t at esT

These United Stateswho is worKing to saVe our states?

Contact the experts.

trent england is director of the Save Our States project at the Freedom Foundation, a mem-ber of the American Legislative Exchange Council’s Public Safety and Elections Task Force, and a Pub-lius Fellow (2008) of the Claremont Institute. He has appeared on television and radio programs, and his work has been published in newspapers including the Wall Street Journal. Trent can be reached directly at 253-549-5000 or tengland@effwa.org.

diana cieslaK is a policy analyst for the Save Our States project at the Freedom Foundation, where she also researches and writes about educa-tion reform and American history. Diana is a certi-fied teacher for both History and French, and can be reached at 360-956-3482 or dcieslak@effwa.org.

Save Our States is a project of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation

{ }

A PUBLICATION OF THE EVERGREEN FREEDOM FOUNDATION 9

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I would like to give a one-time gift of $

any companies have a special drive each year to encourage

employees to give money to chari-ties. These programs often include matching gifts from the company. Most drives will allow you to desig-nate your gift for any non-profit orga-nization (like the Evergreen Freedom Foundation). This includes the state’s annual Com-binedFundDrive.

If your company does not offer a charitable fund drive, it may offer a matching gift program. Usually all that is required is for you to send us a company-supplied form with your check or credit card contribution. We

Mby Juliana McMahancombined fund drives and matching gifts

Companies that provide

They will then send us a matching check!

FormoreinformationpleasecontactJulianaMcMahan,at(360)956-3482oratJMcMahan@effwa.org.

matching gifts include:

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Your Company?

10 LIVING LIBERTY

amount of money for elective procedures (think cataract, joint replacement, even cardiac surgery and radiation treatment); and once the money is gone, it’s gone—no

more for the year unless the public gets angry enough to demand additional

funding.

When was the last time you heard the term “angry Canadians”

in conjunction with anything?Each provincial legislature determines

the size of the financial pot. Then it’s left to bureaucrats in the provincial ministry of health to divvy it up. Individual Canadians then queue up and wait their turn. If the money runs out before they get to the head of the queue, they’re out of luck.

I like going to the eye doctor with my insurance and HSA debit cards in hand, having her tell me I need the surgery, scheduling it for a week or two later, and then getting it done. Under Obama Care with a government option, I probably won’t be able to do that.

Sure, our system has issues. There’s a need to address spiraling costs, unconscionable levels of overhead in many health care facilities, and care for the uninsured who want but cannot afford insurance (many uninsured don’t want it and don’t care). But should we toss the baby out with the bath water in order to address them? And, if you’ll pardon the use of a cataract-related pun, should we blindly walk into a system patterned after one that merely trades one type of misery for another?Despitethecataracts,theansweriscleartome.

early one hundred freedom loving friends gathered at the Future of Flight Aviation

Center in Mukilteo on November 13th for a memorable evening honoring one of America’s freedom heroes, Richard Mourdock.

Mr. Mourdock is the Indiana State Treasurer who stood alone in the country as the only one with the courage to sue the federal government over the Chrysler and GM bailouts, on the grounds that they are unconstitutional. The Chrysler bankruptcy as negotiated by the Obama Administration dictated that secured creditors receive less compensation than non-secured creditors for the first time in American history—and runs totally counter to all established laws of bankruptcy.

As a result, the Indiana state retirement system received only 29 cents on the dollar for their secured investment in Chrysler. Mourdock explained how this unprecedented disregard for the first right of secured creditors will affect credit and investment for every business person and individual citizen in America.

He told the audience, “I had to do this. Itook an oath to defend the Constitution of the UnitedStatesofAmerica. I cannotandwillnot shirk that duty.”

Mourdock’s chilling story of government and judicial bureaucracy run amuck stunned the audience. For nine months, the landmark lawsuit has been fighting its way through the various courts with no judge willing to vote on the merits of the case. Most recently, although the court did not rule in Mourdock’s favor, the accompanying note with the judgment read, “However,wefindnofaultwiththestate’slegalargument.”

Mourdock has taken the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court for consideration. On December 4, 2009, the Justices will announce whether or not they will take the case.

As a result of this case, Mr. Mourdock has been praised for his willingness to stand up for the rule of law, the U.S. Constitution, and individual property rights.

We thank Mr. Mourdock and his wife Marilyn for traveling across the country to be with us, and for their steadfast commitment to liberty.

The health care tussle in Washington, D.C. is now personal to me because of something I will need in the next year, and what I hear from north of the border that gives me pause.

You see, the Nile River has nothing on me: we both have cataracts. Unlike the Nile, however, I want to get rid of mine. Right now, I can. Under Obama Care (for lack of a better shorthand term), I may have to wait . . . and wait . . . and wait.

Through a combination of my employer-provided medical insurance and my Health Savings Account, next summer I should be able to have corrective out-patient surgery. The length of time between seeing the doctor and the surgery will be measured in days.

In Canada, the length of time for the same procedure is measured in weeks, even months. Yet Canada’s Medicare program is often touted as the be-all, end-all health care system, one that we should emulate and one that proponents of the government-option system desire in their heart of hearts. In fact, many who support the government option see it as one step on the road to a completely government-run, single-payer system.

Wait-times for cataract surgery vary from province to province. In British Columbia, the median wait is 14 weeks. That’s median, which means half the people wait less time, and the other half wait longer. In Alberta, the median is 19.4 weeks. In Ontario, the most populous province, you can wait eight weeks from the time you see a doctor until you see a specialist, and then up to 26 weeks from the time you see the specialist until you have your surgery.

Why the wait? As one Canadian analyst said, “We ration quality of life.” Each province sets aside an

tune in on saturdays at 8:30 aM or sundays at 1:20 PM on these stations:

You can listen online at:

www.radioFreewa.com

You can also tune in on saturdays at 12:30 PM, sundays at 8:30 aM, and fridays at 2:30 PM to: Ktrw-am 630 (spokane/northern idaho)

Ktrw-am 630 (spokane/northern idaho)

Kspo-Fm 106.5 (spokane)

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Ktac-Fm 93.9 (Moses lake)

Ktbi-am 810 (Wenatchee/Moses lake) KyaK-am 930 (Yakima)

if rfW does not reach a network in your area, talk to your local stations!

Health Care Continued from page 3 . . .

by Irene Endicott

Dinner with a Courageous Man

You can watch a video of Mr. Mourdock’s inspir-ing speech online by visiting www.effwa.org and

clicking onto the “Multimedia” link on the left side of the page.

Ntune in on saturdays at 8:30 am or sundays at 1:30 pm on these stations:

A PUBLICATION OF THE EVERGREEN FREEDOM FOUNDATION 11

oes the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas? MIT Assistant Professor Ed-

ward Lorenz first posed the question in 1962 after his act of merely entering one tiny alteration in his comput-er program created a radically different test result.

Now known as the ‘butterfly effect’, “it is a phrase that encapsulates the more technical notion of sensitive dependence on initial conditions in chaos theory. Small variations of the initial condition of a dynamical system may produce large variations in the long term behavior of the system.”

Yikes! I don’t honestly understand what I just quoted, but let me try to summarize: Nobody knows how small actions can affect the larger whole.

Is it possible that every small act of kindness has the potential to dramatically change the life of another person? Does every single compassionate act have the potential to bring a community together? The butterfly effect indicates there is a chance the answer is “yes!”

I can still remember one of my most important butterflies . . .

I became single in November 1995—right before the Holidays. Simple tasks become hard during a divorce. One of the hardest for me was getting home after working all day and having only ninety minutes with four children to do dinner, baths, homework, and

diary

the flap of a butterfly’s wings

of a Freedom Loving Mom…b Y J u D Y P a r K i n s

D bedtime. Then one day ‘the butterfly’ dropped lasagna and salad on my door step! The next day it was chicken and jello sitting on the porch when we arrived. For almost two months, like manna from heaven, dinner was ready when we got home. When the kids asked where it came from, I answered what I knew to be true: “God knows exactly what we need when we need it. He has promised to provide and He is.” My faith in God’s promise to take care of me and those I love has not wavered a single day since I first saw that simple pan of lasagna sitting on my porch.

That was fourteen years ago, but this Christmas season I find myself treasuring those memories again. Like so many people we know, the Parkins’ 2009 Christmas will be simpler. We’re scaling back. We’re not going to skip our December Puget Sound Energy bill to make sure our children get everything they want. We are going to focus on the flap of the butterfly’s wings: inviting the single mom in our neighborhood and her kids over for coffee or milk and dessert . . . filling bags for the

n November 17, 2009 the Ev-ergreen Freedom Foundation

appealed a ruling from Thurston County Superior Court Judge Anne Hirsch, who said that Secretary of State Sam Reed’s voter registration practices had not violated federal standards.

In June 2008 the Freedom Foundation filed a complaint on behalf of volunteer researcher Bob Edelman against Secretary Reed for violations of the federal Help America Vote Act. HAVA requires states to create and maintain an accurate statewide voter registration list. Despite this, election officials in Washington state are accepting voter registration applications from teenagers who will not be 18 by the next election. Thousands of underage applications have been received over the last several years; and records show that 108 of these individuals unlawfully voted 127 ballots over an eight-year period, including four in the February 2008 presidential primary.

We are requesting that the Secretary of State adopt procedures to prevent ineligible registrations from being accepted and added to the statewide voter registration database. It’s a simple problem with a simple solution: invite the underage applicant to return when he or she is eligible.

Secretary Reed, however, argued the underage registrations we found are clerical “illusions”—that they didn’t really happen. He argued that federal election law only requires him to correct inaccuracies in the voter database if they come to his attention, but that he has

no legal duty to prevent these registrations in the first place. Reed also argued he has a duty to promote civic involvement among young people; and that if he turns away underage applicants they will become discouraged from participating in the electoral process.

On October 23, 2009, Judge Hirsch ruled that the state’s procedures are adequate and have not resulted in very many illegal votes. We are appealing Judge Hirsch’s ruling because we believe the state has an obligation to prevent improper voter registrations, no matter the number.

This case is bigger than just underage votes. Every year we hear reports of illegal votes: dead voters, felon voters, and the like. We believe that every voter has the right to vote, and the right to have their vote counted. But every illegal vote cancels out a legitimate one. With most counties using vote-by-mail systems, the registration process is a critical stage to ensure the eligibility of voters. Lax registration procedures create the potential for voter fraud and inaccurate election results.

The case will go to the state Court of Appeals; and oral arguments will likely be scheduled for the spring of 2010.

Oby Michael ReitzeFF appeals ruling in underage voter registration lawsuit

food bank . . . sponsoring the Watoto children’s village in Africa . . . taking cookies to neighbors . . . and tipping our restaurant servers a little extra.

Could we start a tornado of kindness that would silence our liberal critics who love to accuse conservatives of not having compassion? Could the butterfly effect eliminate the need for government social programs which by their very nature cannot touch and change people’s lives? I and my ever-hopeful heart were just wondering . . .

“Small variations

of the initial

condition of a

dynamical system

may produce

large variations

in the long term

behavior of the

system.”

“ We believe that every voter has the right to vote, and the right to have their vote counted.

But every illegal vote cancels out a legitimate one.”

12 LIVING LIBERTY

There is a special escape clause provided in the provi-sions made by Congress which allow you to “undo” the conversion by October 15 of the year following the con-version. You can also spread out the taxable amount over multiple years to ease the tax burden it creates. Please be sure to discuss your options with a competent financial advisor who is experienced in tax planning and familiar with the various IRA options currently available.

For more information, or if you have questions,pleasecontactJulianaMcMahanat (360)956-3482oratJMcMahan@effwa.org.

1. IRARolloverProvisionsExpire12/31/09You have until the end of the year to avoid paying fed-

eral income taxes on your 2009 IRA withdrawals. This provision was renewed for 2009; but it is unlikely Con-gress will renew it again for 2010. You can take advan-tage of this opportunity by directly donating funds from your IRA account to the Evergreen Freedom Founda-tion or another non-profit organization.

The CharitableIRARollover permits individuals age 70½ and older to make tax-free charitable gifts totaling up to $100,000 from traditional Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) and Roth IRAs. Because this does not count as gross income, this donation does not count as a line-item tax deduction. Your tax advantage comes by not having to report it as gross income.

It is easy to take advantage of this provision. All you need to do is let the company holding your IRA know that you want to make a rollover to a qualified charitable organization—like the Evergreen Freedom Founda-tion—and provide the address of the charitable organi-zation. The financial institution holding your IRA will make the distribution directly to the non-profit char-ity. Thisyear’stransfermustbecompletedpriortoDecember31,2009.

2. TraditionalIRAtoRothIRAConversionYou have a special opportunity in 2010 to convert

your traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. The restriction that prevents investors with an annual income of more than $100,000 is being waived.

Traditional IRA accounts come from non-taxed con-tributions, while Roth IRAs are funded by after-tax con-tributions. You can convert your traditional IRA to a Roth IRA by paying current tax rates on the account in exchange for having tax-free distributions in the future.

effwa.orgOur website

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two important ira opportunities

• Peoplewhodon’titemizetheirdeduc-tions.

• Individualswho’vereachedtheirchari-table giving limit.

• Taxpayerswhosetaxdeductionsdecrease as their income increases.

the following groups of people will benefit from this opportunity:

• ThosewhointendtheirIRAaccounttogo to their heirs.

• Thosewhowanttoavoidtheannualdis-tributionrequirementsafterage70½.

• Thosewhothinktheywillbesubjecttohighertaxratesinthefuture.

• ThosewhocanaffordtopaythecurrenttaxrateontheirtraditionalIRA.

by Juliana McMahan

the following groups of people will benefit from this opportunity: