Eagle, Idaho – Idaho Freedom Foundation Executive Director Wayne Hoffman today encouraged Idaho government leaders to follow Eagle City Council’s example and approve transparency measures that allow taxpayers to review expenses, revenues and contracts online.
Eagle City Council passed its transparency resolution last week. The resolution requires the city to post expenses, revenues and contracts on the city’ website.
NEW IDAHO GROUP TO EMPHASIZE FREE-MARKET SOLUTIONS, TRANSPARENCY IN GOVERNMENT
Idaho Freedom Foundation seeks to empower Idahoans to take back their freedoms, protect private property rights & economic opportunity
Boise, Idaho – A new Idaho think tank will emphasize free-market solutions and transparency in government as part of its core mission to empower Idahoans to take back their freedoms, protect private property rights and expand economic opportunity.
I'm one Idaho taxpayer who is delighted that state government is undergoing major surgery. Every time the state adds 6 percent onto the price of the things I buy, I imagine ways I'd spend that money if I were not giving it to the government. And I'll be blunt about it. In 2003, I thought the Legislature did a poor job analyzing state spending and cutting waste. Sure, they cut some, but not enough to avoid raising taxes during an economic downturn.
I have to give some kudos to the Eagle City Council. On Tuesday, the council became the first in the state to adopt a resolution supporting transparency in government.
For the first time in the state of Idaho, a local government has decided to put its cards on the table and give taxpayers the opportunity for close, routine monitoring of city expenditures and business dealings. It is our hope that all levels of government will create similar websites that empower Idahoans and boost transparency and accountability in government.
In March 2008, the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice conducted a survey of 1,000 likely voters in Idaho to measure public opinion on a range of education issues. What the survey found is "nearly half of Idaho voters are not satisfied with the state's current public school system - 47% rate Idaho's public school system as ‘poor' or ‘fair.'" The poll also revealed that "Idahoans like school choice reforms - 67% express favorability to charter schools."
Summary: Raising taxes will not solve Idaho's surface transportation issues. Any gas tax increase is unsustainable, will likely require successive increases and will merely subsidize the inefficiencies government highway programs experience. Many international, state and local governments have had positive experiences with private highways and bridges. Idaho should examine successful privatization models.
What does it mean to be "free"?
Rather than quoting the words of statesmen and philosophers to answer that question, I'd like to tell you a story about what I think it means to be free.
Germany was a tough place to live in the late 1800s - it was not a free country. Economic and living conditions were dire for most of the population and government policies only made the situation worse. Millions of Germans were leaving their homeland in search of greater opportunity in the United States.
Last year, something truly incredible happened. In the freest country on the planet, the United States’ top money manager, Henry Paulson, called the country’s leading bankers to a meeting at the Department of Treasury. According to one news account, “As the meeting neared a close, each banker was handed a term sheet detailing how the government would take stakes valued at a combined $125 billion in their banks, and impose new restrictions on executive pay and dividend policies. The participants, among the nation’s best deal makers, were in a peculiar position.