While there is much talk in the Texas media about the budget shortfall of $21 billion. I think the more important issue is the unfunded liability of $193 billion (and rising every year.) This is according to the National Center for Policy Analysis, Policy Report No. 329 by Courtney Collins and Andrew J. Rettenmaier, published July 2010.

I am no math whiz but this means that every child born in the state of Texas this year is already in debt to the tune of $7,720. Texas is in the middle of the pack compared to other states, but we are quickly headed in the direction of California where this has become the biggest problem plaguing the Golden State.

It is so bad the even Democrats such as Willie Brown are beginning to rethink what needs to be done. Why? Because it is impacting their ability to get other progressive laws passed.

If I do nothing in this campaign but continue to bring this to the attention of Texans, my campaign will be a success. When this becomes an issue about five years hence, please remember you read it hear first.

Here is a video about the problem in California from reason.tv.

On Unfunded Liabilities is a post from: Elect Ed Kless. Please click to view any multimedia content and/or comment on this post. Thanks.

Last night at the candidate forum sponsored by the Allen Area Patriots, one questioner inquired about my source for Texas being listed 31st as a state in economic freedom. My answer was the Pacific Research Institute.

With pleasure I present a video about this terrific organization.

Click this sentence if you are interested in reading the full U.S. Economic Freedom Index for 2008.

On the Pacific Research Institute is a post from: Elect Ed Kless. Please click to view any multimedia content and/or comment on this post. Thanks.

This classic strip appeared in the papers on a couple of Sundays ago.

If you are truly looking for a smaller government, you must consider voting Libertarian. As Libertarian Party executive director Wes Benedict said:

Republicans are trying to fool you again. There are two kinds of Tea Partiers. One kind is so blinded by its hatred of Obama and Democrats that it cannot see fault with Republicans.

Libertarians have much in common with Tea Party goals of reducing government spending and taxes. While many Tea Party supporters will admit that George W. Bush’s administration grew government, Libertarians want to remind Tea Partiers about previous Republican administrations that loved big government.

Republican Newt Gingrich and the Contract with America promised to eliminate the Departments of Education and Energy. Yet once Republicans took control of Congress, they failed even to reduce the spending on those departments.

Republican President George Bush, Sr. remains famous for coining the phrase ‘Read my lips, no new taxes,’ and then raising taxes.

Republican President Ronald Reagan grew federal government spending to the highest level it had reached since World War II. He also ‘saved Social Security’ by raising payroll taxes.

Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole was a huge supporter of taxpayer subsidies for corn and ethanol.

In 1971, Republican President Richard Nixon instituted wage and price controls. That made a group of free-market supporters so angry that they decided to form the Libertarian Party.

Republicans seem to think we’re idiots. For decades they have paid lip-service to shrinking government, while consistently doing the opposite in office.

Our fear is that Tea Partiers might say ‘This time it will be different.’ No it won’t. If you vote for Republicans this time, it will just reinforce the message that they can lie to you and grow government with impunity.

Current Republicans are just as bad as past Republicans. This year, Libertarian Party co-founder David Nolan is running for U.S. Senate against Republican John McCain, who famously suspended his 2008 presidential campaign so he could rush back to Washington to bail out the banks.

Republican leader John Boehner might end up as the next House Speaker, and he voted for George W. Bush’s huge 2003 Medicare expansion.

John Cornyn, Republican senator from Texas, and current chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, voted for the TARP bailouts.

Reason 1 Why Republicans Should Consider Voting for Me is a post from: Elect Ed Kless. Please click to view any multimedia content and/or comment on this post. Thanks.

This came across my desk today from multiple sources, so I will give thanks to the first person who sent it to me, my friend and Libertarian Candidate for US Congress for District 4, Jim Prindle.

According to a study on the economic freedom of the States published by the Pacific Research Institute,  Texas has fallen from 8th most free to 31st most free on the list.

Worse still is that we are second most regulated state in the union. If elected, I will everything I can to reverse this trend. We are quickly on the way to becoming the next California or New York.

It is time to wake up!

Click the image to learn more about the report.

“Austin, We Have a Problem!” is a post from: Elect Ed Kless. Please click to view any multimedia content and/or comment on this post. Thanks.

In the past two days, I have come across a few videos that provide some excellent and cogent commentary on issues of import.

In the first, Jeff Miron and Mary O’Grady crystallize the problem with the “war” on drugs. It is interesting to note that many people who are pro-WOD are pro-WOT (“war” on terror), yet it is clear the one funds the other. Drug money, without question, funds terrorist organizations.

In the second, Steve Wynn eloquently explains  how the health care legislation and bailouts will have the exact opposite effect from what their sponsors in Congress intend.

Again, politicians are not evil, they truly intend to try to help, but the do not understand basic economics.

For your viewing pleasure is a post from: Elect Ed Kless. Please click to view any multimedia content and/or comment on this post. Thanks.

A recent email exchange with my advisor, David Hall, led to some thoughts on what is and ought to be a fair and rational taxation system for the State of Texas.

We agreed that a consumption tax is without question the fairest way to assess and collect taxes. If elected I would move to eliminate all other forms of taxation and propose an amendment to the Texas Constitution that would limit the tax to no more than 10%.

The State of Texas, indeed all governments should, can, and eventually must live within their means.  Ten percent, I believe, is a most reasonable number.  As the great Ray Stevens song says, “If 10 percent is good enough for Jesus, it oughta be enough for Uncle Sam,” or in this case the State of Texas. Even God only asked for 10%, and that is a great example for us, since people can only bear a reasonable burden.  We can do this by:

1. Eliminating so called “economic development” tax perks at the local and state levels. Since we would be eliminating all other taxes, those incentives would no longer by necessary since reducing the taxes for everyone will be incentive enough.
2. Releasing non-violent offenders from jails and prisons providing ankle bracelets and supervision. Violent offenders would remain incarcerated.  Releasing the non-violent offenders will reduce costs from $60 per day to $6 per day.
3. Eliminating expenses required to calculate, collect, and administer all other taxes.
4. Funding education through a voucher system where the money goes with the students rather than only to public schools, colleges, and universities.
5. Expanding toll roads with the provision that frontage roads have the same number of lanes as the toll way. Also, these must be created through limited use of eminent domain, and where this is not possible, a premium of 25 percent should be paid to property owners on top of fair market value.
6. Closing the loopholes in the sales tax except for food and medicine.
7. Establishing the 200 mile offshore limit instead of the current 10 mile limit for Texas.  This has the potential of increasing our offshore revenue more than 20 times.  Currently, other states have only a two mile limit with the exception of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico.

There are certainly other ideas for improving the Texas economy, and I welcome them, but I believe these would be some of the best places to start. What are your suggestions?

A Rational Tax Proposal is a post from: Elect Ed Kless. Please click to view any multimedia content and/or comment on this post. Thanks.

Right from the elephant’s mouth we have this flyer. Call me crazy, but it seems to me the Republicans are trying to buy the Hispanic vote. Enough is enough folks, the State of Texas is $18 billion in the red.

If you really think the GOP is the party of fiscal conservatism, think again! Whenever you hear Republicans or Democrats pitching new programs that are proposed “for the children” ask them, “With what money?!?!”

Click to download the entire flyer.

My thanks to Libertarian Congressional Candidate John Jay Myers for passing this along.

Republicans Fiscally Conservative? My Donkey’s Behind! is a post from: Elect Ed Kless. Please click to view any multimedia content and/or comment on this post. Thanks.

I love this commercial.

However, I would make one small change. Replace “egg management fee” with “liberty management fee (aka taxes).”

The irony is that Ally Bank is none other than the rebranded GMAC!

“Ed,” you might be saying, “do you mean the GMAC that took $12 BILLION in TARP funds?”

Yes, that is correct! They took $12 billion dollars in other people’s stuff and then they run commercials saying how it is wrong to take other people’s stuff!

Forget it, I hate this commercial!

It’s Wrong to Take People’s Stuff is a post from: Elect Ed Kless. Please click to view any multimedia content and/or comment on this post. Thanks.

Thanks to Bryan McAninch, chair of the Collin County Libertarian Party, for passing this along. It is a very interesting mapping tool which visually displays from where the people coming to Collin County have moved. Click on the map to play with the tool yourself.

Consider this is all legal, but if they happen to come from south of the Rio Grande, well that is different story. Why? Try explaining legal migration versus illegal immigration to a four-year old. Help me understand?

Help Me Understand #2 – Illegal Immigration is a post from: Elect Ed Kless. Please click to view any multimedia content and/or comment on this post. Thanks.

One of the key devices I use as a consultant is something I call the “Help me understand” question. I use this when it seems that there is an apparent contradiction between two things which are said or behaviors of a person.

The structure is this: Help me understand how A (one behavior or statement) is in alignment with B (the other behavior or statement)?

Sometimes this leads me to some very good insight and a much deeper understanding of the issues. Very often, I am convinced that A and B are, in fact, in alignment and that what was lacking was my deeper understanding. Other times however, the person I am working with is unable to reconcile the dissonance and even adjusts their behavior or statement accordingly. Other times they make no adjustment and go on living a contradiction.

In any case, I have one these situation that is directed at my big government friends.

Today, I received an email about a story at 2:28pm from the Huffington Post (one of the two political newsletters to which I subscribe, the other is Glen Beck’s newsletter (I figure between this two lies some semblance of the truth)) which states, “One key driver in the rise in home sales and home prices was the federal government’s $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers and $6,500 tax credit for those changing residences, both of which expired in April.” Let’s call this one statement A.

Ten minutes later at 2:38pm, I received a second email from the Huffington post featuring a column from Robert Kuttner which states, “Here is a fable that is making the rounds. It is a collection of half-truths and outright lies: The financial meltdown was the result of too many people pursuing the American Dream of home ownership. People who couldn’t really afford to be homeowners became speculators. Government added to the damage with cheap mortgages, misguided laws such as the Community Reinvestment Act, and overgrown government-sponsored agencies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.” Let’s call this statement B.

So my statist friends, help me understand how A is in alignment with B? A states that the federal government tax credits influenced the buying of homes, while B states the government laws did not influence the buying of homes.

Which is it? I do not believe it can be both.

Help Me Understand #1 is a post from: Elect Ed Kless. Please click to view any multimedia content and/or comment on this post. Thanks.