It goes one for the student who refuses to submit
And two for the teachers who are underpaid as shit
It’s the next generation of miseducated youth
Who demonstrate the truth and manage to make it through
It goes three for the strikes giving young bloods life
And four for the years you spent stifled inside
It’s the next generation of miseducated youth-next time ask em for proof.” – Blue Scholars

“Never think that your political opponent, hates or wants to destroy America. They love America , but just have a different view on what America is. Once you start believing you opponent is out to destroy America there can be no middle ground, or educated debate.”

I try to keep that in mind with people i encounter along my travels. At bumbershoot i ran into radical leftest that verbally attacked us for our support of the “evil capitalism” and our views on economic reform. After embarrassing himself with his rants and raves the people around him came to our booth to learn more of what he was yelling about. In a way he ended up being a great tool to show the oppressive nature of the left and what the Student Freedom Project is try to fight against. A great deal of politics today is done by race batting and smear campaigns, and having worked on campaigns and as a activist on college campuses i have been the target of some of this “strategic” verbal anger. As the organizer of the student freedom project i try to rise above that and hold my volunteers and member to higher standards. If we want to change whats happening in politics we to have to change how the game is played.

Rarely do students or young adults truly have the bargaining chips that they do in this election. The pivotal nature of these elections mean that the powers to be will have to listen to young adults to get our votes. So the question arises what will the voices of college students call for?  As the Seattle Time reported, voter apathy among the youth is normally high so with this close election will college students understand the power they have before its to late?

“Drawing voters to a midterm election is always a challenge. Although the entire U.S. House of Representatives is up for grabs, and roughly a third of the Senate — plus legislative seats and decisions on state ballot measures — midterm elections don’t generate the attention presidential elections do.” The Seattle Times

The big question is with the importance of this election will college students take the reigns and decide the fate of our nation or will other define the future our on nation for us?

“One idea for raising taxes to pay down the debt is the bill introduced this February by Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.). His “Debt Free America Act” (H.R. 4646) would impose a 1 percent “transaction tax” on every financial transaction — whether paid by cash, credit card or any form of financial transfer, the only exception being transactions involving the purchase or sale of stock. Theoretically, everyone would pay one cent on the dollar for every such transaction in America every day — whether $3 million on a $300 million business acquisition, $300 on the purchase of a $30,000 car, or $5 on a $500 ATM withdrawal.”–The Hill

Also the federal government had another great idea! Rumors are circulating that confiscation of 401ks and IRA’s might fix the budget!

“On August 26, the US Department of Labor issued a news release (http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/newsroom/2010/ebsa082610.html).  It lists the agenda for the joint hearings being held with the Department of Treasury September 14-15, 2010 on what is euphemistically called “lifetime income options for retirement plans.”  The hearings are being conducted by the Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration.” news.coinupdate.com

Articles like this make me excited for my future after college (sarcasm). The people in power are going to keep trying to find ways to “decrease” the deficit. There game plan so far is to sacrifice our future for the “preservation of the present”. If we don’t get involved soon, if we don’t let them know in November, who knows what they will try next. I just can’t wait till they find a way to tax the shoe box under my bed.

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At the Snake River

I spent four days at Washington State University last week hanging out and talking with my fellow students, to learn more about what issues are  most important to them.I met with a couple Greek houses, and student groups and told them what the Student Freedom Project had to offer, and how only they could changethe direction our nation is headed. From talking with the lovely ladies at Delta Delta Delta, i hear concerns about some of the new taxes that are heading their way such as an increase in the cost of tanning and an increase in tuition and student fees. Money and the increases in cost of living, seem to be the most common issues that face college students today.

Overall the statistic and information about what is happening in our state and in our national, came as a great surprise to many. Not many if any of the students i talked with frequently watch the news or read the paper. Many of them are not even registered to vote. The information i was giving them seem to be the first time they were exposed to that information. This all gave me a lot to think about. How will i get the students the information they need to be informed about their nation. Also how do i get the student to register to vote, and prove to them that their voice matters?

With November just around the corner, and so much riding on this election, i wonder if i will have time to get the college community on board. Will i have success in getting my generation in the fight before its too late….

Olympia – Economists at the Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk University found the state income tax that is proposed in Initiative 1098 would lengthen and deepen the current economic downturn by destroying private sector jobs, reducing residents’ disposable income and prolonging the state’s high unemployment rate.

In November, voters will be asked to weigh in on this initiative that would reshape the state’s tax structure with the introduction of a state income tax. At the request of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, economists at the Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk University used its Washington State Tax Analysis Modeling Program (WA-STAMP) to analyze the effects I-1098 would have on the state economy.

Economists found that by 2013, I-1098’s tax changes would lead to:

• A loss of more than 61,000 private sector jobs
• An increase in the state’s long-term projected unemployment rate from 6.7 percent to 7.9 percent
• A reduction in real disposable income of more than $2.5 billion, or $149 per capita
• A reduction in certain state and local tax collections (such as the sales tax) due to the economic damage inflicted by an income tax

“At the end of the day, a defense of any tax hike depends on the notion that new government spending made possible by the tax hike will create a positive effect on the economy that outweighs the negative effect created by the higher taxes. Clearly, Initiative 1098’s negative economic impacts outweigh the positives,” said Amber Gunn, Director of Economic Policy for the Freedom Foundation.

The STAMP analysis also projects that the economic damage would harm state sales tax collections by $64.16 million and other taxes and fees by $66.55 million in 2013. This brings total state revenue gains to $1.726 billion in 2013, which are less than the state’s Office of Financial Management because the STAMP model considers the dynamic effects a tax increase would have on other forms of tax collections. OFM uses a static methodology.

“Initiative proponents like to operate in a Keynesian world where higher tax rates and their effects on human behavior and competitiveness among states don’t matter. But those effects are present in the real world and must be accounted for,” said Gunn.

The Lentil Festival put the Student Freedom Project front and center with the community of Pullman. The exposure gave us the opportunity to talk with community members and learn more about communities and their concerns regarding the state of our economy and how it will effect our college student once they venture off into the real world. The community validated our efforts, in getting the college students involved in politics. There is much traveling ahead of us, and more people and groups to meet.  All that can be said, is waves are being made with Washington college students and Washington State University and is a preview of what’s to come.