The unelected government

Categories: IRS | Taxing rain

Washington State Employee Wages

In the interest of helping the public make informed decisions about whether the Legislature should increase taxes to plug the budget deficit, BIAW has created this website to track state workers' salaries and benefits. A recent Seattle Times article noted wages and benefits for teachers and state workers are responsible for eating up 60 percent of the budget. Before buying the sob story that state workers are underpaid and deserve pay raises, please use this resource to help determine whether YOUR taxes should be increased. www.biaw.com/WAStateEmployeeWages.aspx

COMMON SENSE KITSAP

To become a bureaucrat to fight bureaucracy makes as much sense as fighting fire with matches and gasoline by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

What should freedom lovers do? Government work has been the chosen career path of socialists, social reformers, and Keynesians for at least a century. It is the natural home to them because their ambition is to control society through government. Perhaps freedom lovers should try the same technique that the left did. We should get our people in power and displace their people, and then we can bring about change toward liberty. In fact, isn't this the most important goal of all? But it is far more likely that the state will chew up and either eat or spit out those with a passion for liberty... www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1499  040420-what Should Freedom Lovers Do

COMMON SENSE KITSAP

12/26/08: Where is the science in Puget Sound Partnership's Action agenda? by Bob Benze

THE Puget Sound Partnership is a new state agency created to "restore" Puget Sound by 2020. On Dec. 1, the Partnership's Action Agenda was finalized for presentation to the Legislature. An additional $150 million to $200 million in the budget will be required for its implementation. Restoration of Puget Sound was to be based on science. Unfortunately, many of the Agenda's actions lack scientific or historical credibility. seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2008562626_opin28benze.html  081226-benze-where Is Science In Psp Action Agenda

COMMON SENSE KITSAP

Government Workers Are America's New Elite (7/1/2008) by Stephen Greenhut

Thanks to craven politicians seeking government-union support, shameless exploitation by those unions of national tragedy (such as the death of firefighters in the World Trade Center collapse), and other factors, including the public's increasing embrace of big government, government workers have turned themselves into a coddled class that lives better than their private-sector counterparts and is exempt from many of the standards and laws that apply to the rest of us. Instead of offering accolades and honors, the public should be mad at the current situation and ought to question what it says about the nature of our society. www.fee.org/Publications/the-Freeman/article.asp?aid=8312

COMMON SENSE KITSAP

Five Ways to Promote Ethics in Your Organization (7/1/2008) by Larry Checco, Checco Communications

There's a difference between what's legal and what's ethical, and it is up to an organization's leadership to understand what that difference is. Unfortunately the ethics standards at many of the nation's nonprofit organizations are declining, according to a recent report by the Ethics Resource Center. Rates of observed misconduct, including financial fraud, by nonprofit employees are at the highest level since ERC began measuring in 2000, with nonprofits faring little better than the public and private sectors. So what is a nonprofit that wants to operate on a high moral and ethical plane—and keep its brand strong and healthy—to do? www.guidestar.org/news/features/promoting_ethics.jsp  0807-5 Ways To Promote Ethics In Organization

COMMON SENSE KITSAP

UNRAVELING THE MYSTERY OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE (1/8/2008)

The actions of the Federal Reserve have a significant effect on our daily lives. However it remains something of a mystery to most Americans. The Chairman of the Federal Reserve is perhaps the most powerful non-elected official in the world, whose decisions affect every aspect of our economy, from interest rates to the cost of groceries. So what is the Federal Reserve and how did it come into existence? The answer might surprise you. www.khouse.org/  080108-mystery Of Federal Reserve

COMMON SENSE KITSAP

07/28/10: Draining the Swamp: An in-depth review of taxpayer-funded lobbying in Washington State by Preston Mui

When people think of lobbyists, they usually imagine big businesses buying off corrupt politicians. They probably don't imagine government agencies hiring lobbyists to buy votes at the capitol. It sounds absurd—and it is—but here in Washington public agencies spend millions of our dollars every year hiring lobbyists. Public agencies spent over $42 million on lobbying in the last decade. And with unreported lobbying, hidden administrative costs, employee benefits, and lobbying at the federal level, the true cost of government lobbying is much, much higher. Not only do city governments, county governments, public utility districts, and other public agencies spend millions of dollars every year lobbying the state, sometimes they don't even tell us about it. Many agencies, such as Puget Sound Partnership (PSP), pay in-house staff to lobby in lieu of hiring contract lobbyists. The flagrant disrespect for taxpayers and the rule of law from these public agencies is shocking. One especially egregious example is Sound Transit, which failed to report over $800,000 in lobbying expenses over the past seven years. It is natural to ask what business government has using taxpayer money to hire lobbyists in order to lobby itself for more taxpayer money. Lobbying with other people's money distorts the political process, forcing citizens to fund the same lobbyists they may have to compete with in Olympia. When it results in higher budgets and higher spending, it's doubly insulting to taxpayers. The Evergreen Freedom Foundation has formally filed complaints with the Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) against sixty-eight public agencies for failing to disclose the hiring of lobbyists with taxpayer dollars. View the video showing delivery of the complaints to the PDC by clicking here. www.effwa.org/files/pdf/TFL_Final_Cover.pdf

COMMON SENSE KITSAP

Salmon Recovery Funding Board funds habitat projects (12/14/2006) by Shelton-Mason County Journal

Work on Pirates Cove, placement of woody debris in the Skokomish River and purchase by an environmental group of Richert Ranch are the top local priorities of the Salmon Recovery Funding Board. ... The Washington Legislature created the Salmon Recovery Funding Board in 1999. Its membership is five citizens appointed by the governor and five state agency directors, bringing together the experiences and viewpoints of citizens and the major state natural-resource agencies. The board provides grant funds to protect or restore salmon habitat and assist related activities. Working closely with local watershed groups, it has helped finance more than 500 projects... 061214-sj-cove-ranch-debris Get Salmon Funding

COMMON SENSE KITSAP

06/09/10: DOL revises the procedures for customers to prove their Washington resident address

LSRs will no longer require a customer to present documentation for proof of WA residence address, and will accept the customer's signature on the record of application as attestation of their WA residence address. Highlights of changes to LSR Manual Section 6.1, 6.4, and 6.14 are included. 100609-dol-proving Wa Residency Memo  6-1 6-4 6-14

COMMON SENSE KITSAP

Report details hard work of state’s salmon enhancement groups (5/6/2004) by Belfair Herald

In the past decade hundreds of miles of habitat have been restored, several hundred fish passage improvements have been completed and millions of salmon and steelhead have been reared and released into state waters, thanks to the efforts of citizen Regional Fisheries Enhancement Groups (RFEGs). Those and other accomplishments are detailed in a recently released annual report which can be viewed online on the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife's (WDFW) Web site. The report gives insight into what other groups across the state that are similar to the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group in Belfair are up to. Created by the legislature in 1990, the regional enhancement groups are local, citizen-led organizations dedicated to restoring and protecting state salmon and steelhead. The groups, which have increased in number from 12 to 14, involve local communities, businesses, governments, citizen volunteers and landowners in salmon recovery efforts. 040506-bh-report Issued On Salmon Enhancement Groups

COMMON SENSE KITSAP

How to Steal from a Nonprofit: Who Does It and How to Prevent It by Janet Greenlee, Mary Fischer, Teresa Gordon, and

Is it easier to steal from a nonprofit organization than from a business? That's what some researchers have speculated, arguing that an atmosphere of trust, the difficulty in verifying certain revenue streams, weaker internal controls, a lack of business and financial expertise, and a reliance on volunteer boards all contribute to increased nonprofit vulnerability. Much of the burden for detecting fraud falls on informal systems that form the core of organizations' operations. There are some questions that organizations should ask themselves: What is our organization's approach to transparency, and is there an open door for whistle-blowers? Is there a culture of asking questions and rewarding people for having asked them? Is the board and executive leadership engaged in a way that ensures that difficult questions are asked before fraud surfaces on its own? For organizations that do not conduct an audit, are policies in place to ensure good accountability? www.nonprofitquarterly.org/content/view/164/1/  0712-how To Steal From A Nonprofit

COMMON SENSE KITSAP

Between a board and a hard place: Volunteer directors, not paid staff, face the ultimate responsibility

Board members are [ultimately responsible]. And, often, they have no idea of the pressures, fiscal and personal, and the responsibilities involved in nonprofit management. They even can be held personally liable for paying thousands of dollars in back payroll taxes, should things go awry. 050313-nonprofit Boards-ultimate Responsibility

COMMON SENSE KITSAP

There is no law mandating that nonprofits must make decisions using Robert's Rules. Go for Consensus instead

All sorts of petty arguments arise from the ignorance or abuse of parliamentary procedure. Unlike parliamentary procedure, which results in an up-or-down, yes-or-no vote, the consensus process allows for (and even encourages) a continuum of responses. By way of comparison, imagine you're sitting around with a group of friends, trying to decide on a place for dinner... www.guidestar.org/DisplayArticle.do?articleId=1189  0802-going For Consensus Not Roberts Rules

COMMON SENSE KITSAP

Government Funding and Community Representation on Nonprofit Boards: The Bargain We Strike by Chao Guo

Reliance on government funding reduces the representativeness and influence of nonprofit boards and that the democratic function of nonprofit organizations may be seriously constrained. This effect may be mitigated by relying less on government funding and more on volunteers. www.npqmag.org  0712-govt Funding-community Rep On Nonprofit Bds

COMMON SENSE KITSAP

Assessing Fraud Risk. Every organization faces some risk of fraud from within by by Joseph T. Wells and John D. Gill

Every organization faces some risk of fraud from within. Fraud exposure can be classified into three broad categories: asset misappropriation, corruption and fraudulent financial statements. Answering the following 15 questions is a good starting point for sizing up a company's vulnerability to fraud and creating an action plan for lessening the risks. www.nonprofitquarterly.org  0712-assessing Fraud Risk

COMMON SENSE KITSAP

IRS

Federal Individual Income Tax Rates History, 1913-2008

www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/151.html

COMMON SENSE KITSAP

Federal Income Tax: Wartime Origins of Modern Income Tax Withholding

The Treasury itself publicly acknowledges, in a fact sheet on the history of the U.S. tax system posted at its website, that wartime withholding not only "greatly eased the collection of the tax," but "also greatly reduced the taxpayer's awareness of the amount of tax being collected, i.e.[,] it reduced the transparency of the tax, which made it easier to raise taxes in the future." Some evidence: in 2005 more than 130 million individual income-tax forms were filed, yielding the federal government $1,108 billion in revenue, and of that amount, $787 billion, or 71 percent, came from withholding... 071224-wartime Origins Of Income-tax Withholding

COMMON SENSE KITSAP

Taxing rain

Saving rain: How much is too much? Collecting large amount runs afoul of 'archaic' law (7/20/2008)

Since when was the state Constitution altered to allow an Administrative agency of the STATE OF WASHINGTON power over "we the people" of Washington state to regulate rain? The government thinks they OWN the rain and they're going to let us USE the rain? Read the Preamble and Article 1, Section 1 of the WA State Constitution. Our liberties -- and even the rain -- come from the "Supreme Ruler of the Universe," not the government: PREAMBLE. We, the people of the State of Washington, grateful to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe for our liberties, do ordain this constitution. ARTICLE I, SECTION 1 POLITICAL POWER. All political power is inherent in the people, and governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, and are established to protect and maintain individual rights. www.leg.wa.gov/LawsAndAgencyRules/constitution.htm seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/371529_rain21.html  080720-pi-saving Rain-how Much Is Too Much

COMMON SENSE KITSAP

Ecology begins statewide rulemaking for rainwater collection (6/10/2008)

Lest you wake up on this fine summer morning thinking all is right with the world and government has only our best interests at heart, I feel compelled to point out that right here in Washington State -- perhaps one of the best known wet spots in the world -- state bureaucrats are busily making up rules to govern the collection of rainwater. First they concocted ways to charge landowners for the runoff of storm water and now it appears they are looking for ways to CHARGE and REGULATE water that falls from the sky. When they can add the AIR we breathe to their list of CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES, don't think they won't. 080610-ecology Wants To Regulate Rain Water

COMMON SENSE KITSAP

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